PureTale
by swrWriter
Summary: Frisk got a neutral ending and Gaster prevented any further alterations to the timeline by taking Frisk. Fast forward 6 months and the ninth fallen child, Alex, arrives looking for them. The monsters are here to help rescue their mutual friend, but Gaster has Frisk & the six souls. What could they possibly do to save Frisk? Well, Alex is here to help with their unique soul: PURITY
1. Prologue: Neutral Ending

_**Alright losers! Take a seat as I tell you the story of Alex and Frisk. A pair of inseparable friends that won't let something as simple as a hole into the Underground separate them. Read onward to know the story of this dynamic duo and I hope you enjoy. But first, a few messages to set a few things straight:**_

 _ **1\. I do NOT own Undertale. Please understand that I am NOT Toby Fox and I did NOT create anything other than Alex and this story.**_

 _ **2\. This is my own Undertale AU, simply titled 'PureTale'. After reading many fan-made comics and stories, I decided to try my hand at writing my own story. Yes, emphasis on 'MY'!**_

 _ **3\. I used to write when I was younger, but stopped. I'm doing it again and may be rusty, so I apologize in advance. Please correct me and let me know if I make any stupid errors.**_

 _ **4\. In this story, both Frisk and Alex with be 'mostly' gender-neutral, using 'they' and 'them'. By the end, I will probably decide on their genders.**_

 _ **5\. This story is rated ' T', which means there will be some cursing, some violence, and maybe a bit of other stuff. Nothing sexual. If you have a problem with some f-bombs here and there, it may be time to reconsider, but they aren't overused!**_

 _ **6\. Last, but not least, if you wanted some visuals to accompany this story, you'll be sorely disappointed. My art skills go no further past coloring in a coloring book, but even then it's pretty bad.**_

 _ **Without further ado, the opening for my Fanfiction Undertale AU: PureTale**_

* * *

The light shining through the barrier was nearly blinding, but Frisk stayed determined. In front of them, the beaten flower Flowey, was hunched over and appeared more like a wilted flower than the demented killer he was previously. "Do you really think I've learned anything from this?" He asked, with an immediate "No." following suit. However, Frisk still refused to kill Flowey.

"Sparing me won't change anything. Killing me is the only way to end this." Again, without a moment of hesitation, Frisk refused to fight Flowey. "If you let me live… I'll come back. I'll kill you. I'll kill everyone." Frisk promptly responded with another "no". Flowey, even angrier now, then shouted, "I'll kill everyone you love."

Frisk simply let out a sigh and slowly knelt down to Flowey's level. Rather than prepare to shout, Frisk let out in a calm tone, "No Flowey." Flowey was speechless. His expression was one of confusion. "… Why are you being… so nice to me? I can't understand. I just can't understand…" Suddenly Flowey fled from Frisk as they slowly stood back up.

They held out their hand and opened it to look at their palm. Inside was some dust from Asgore's soul, something that made Frisk shed a tear. They wished he had still been alive. Now, Frisk felt like they had done something wrong. Perhaps they should RESET and try to fix this. There must be some way free the monsters and let Asgore live. Looking back, he never killed anyone and befriended Papyrus and Undyne, but there must have been something they missed. Frisk closed their eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, everything went black as the 'Main Menu' began to appear in front of Frisk.

Frisk was prepared. They had already listened to the saddening phone call, and heard all about how his friends were doing. Simply put, this wasn't what they wanted. They needed to fix this. They couldn't just leave their friends Underground. As Frisk prepare to reset, Flowey suddenly reappeared.

Flowey quietly began to speak "So, I don't get it. If you really did everything the right way, why did thing still end up like this? Why…? Is life really that unfair?" Frisk looked down at Flowey and tilted their head slightly. "…Say. What if I told you… I knew some way to get you a better ending? You'll have to load your SAVE file, and… Well, in the meantime, why don't you go see Dr. Alphys? It seems like you could have been better friends. Who knows… maybe she's got the key to your happiness…? See you soon." And with that final word, Flowey disappeared once again.

Maybe that was it! Frisk hadn't seen Alphys since Mettaton ran out of batteries. That must be what they missed. Frisk knew they didn't have to RESET, rather all they had to do was continue and see Alphys. After all, she looked quite distraught after Mettaton revealed everything and powered down. Frisk then held out their hand and pressed the continue button.

…But it refused? Frisk became confused, it wasn't working. Then they looked more closely, both the CONTINUE button and the RESET button were a grey color now. They flashed much like a dying light bulb. That's when they felt what appeared to be a hand on their shoulder and a whisper in their ear: "Sorry Frisk, but I cannot allow any sort of meddling with the timeline. Don't worry though, I have plans for us…" With the last words everything went dark. Dark, Darker, yet Darker.


	2. The 9th Fallen Child

Pain. The only thing that Alex felt was a throbbing headache from the fall. They opened their eyes and saw why they were only experiencing a headache and nothing more. Beneath them was a large pile of flowers. Alex let out a large sigh and turned over to look up. Above them was a large cavern with a small hole that was well out of reach.

'Welp, guess I'm not getting out that way.' They thought to themselves.

They put both hands firmly on the ground and tried to get up. Pain shot up through their left looked at their arm and saw that it, luckily, wasn't broken, but there was now a formation of a brand new, large bruise. 'Must have been from the fall', they again, now using mostly their right arm, they successfully stood up.

Now standing, Alex looked around for a way out when they see a short hallway with what appears to be a doorway. Alex slowly walked toward the doorway while examining themselves. Their red and white striped sweater had flower petals all over it, so Alex quickly smacked them off as they approached the door before quickly entering it.

Upon entering through the door, Alex heard a voice talking. Talking to itself maybe? But there was no one in sight, who could be talking? All that was in front of them was a single flower and another doorway.

"I don't understand. If that idiot is gone, why can't I RESET?" Said the voice. That's odd, did the voice say something about a 'reset'? "It makes no sense. They didn't reset or continue. Now the souls are gone and everything's different. What am I missing…?" continued the voice until Alex interrupted them.

"Hello? Is… is anyone there? I… I think I fell and hurt myself."

Suddenly the flower turned around and it… it had a face. It looked confused and angry, but quickly tried to hide its shock with a friendly looking face. Something wasn't right here. The flower responded, "Oh, howdy. I didn't see you there, friend. What'd you say? You fell?" Alex quickly tried to get over the shock of seeing a talking flower.

"O-oh ye-yes. I was, I was climbing the mountain, looking for a friend, when I fell down."

"Oh golly, what a shame." Said the flower with an almost genuine appearance of empathy. "Well, I can try to help you out friend. I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower. What's your name?" They replied,

"Nice to meet you Flowey, I'm Alex." Flowey put out a friendly smile and replied, "Ok Alex, since you're new around here I can show you how things work down here in the Underground. You ready, friend?" Alex nodded as everything seemed to shift to black and white.

Suddenly 'Flowey' appeared directly in front of Alex with four button-looking things that said "FIGHT", "ACT", "ITEM", and "MERCY". Above that was an box with a silver heart inside of it. Alex was somehow able to move it around. Flowey began speaking, "See that heart? That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being.". They way he spoke sounded almost as if he's said that phrase many, many times and eventually memorized it. Flowey then tilted their head …er bulb and stopped for a moment.

"G-golly. I've never seen a Silver soul before. Anyways, your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV." It was now Alex's turn to be confused. "What does LV stand for? Why, LOVE of course! You want some LOVE, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with…" Flowey began to slow down and became quiet.

After a short pause, he began speaking again. "Hehehe. Man, this gets boring real fast. You know what pal, why don't I just give you some LOVE real fast. Hold still." Flowey then summoned several seed looking things, which began to head toward Alex. To Alex, these seeds didn't look very love-ly. Alex tried to dodge them, but ended up hitting one of the pellets and watched their HP plummet to 1 as they fell to their knees. Flowey then began to laugh demonically.

"You idiot… In this world, it's kill or be killed." Seeing this hideous face, Alex tried to flee, but they couldn't. Suddenly, Alex was surrounded by countless pellets. "Hehe. And since your soul isn't red, I won't have to worry about you RESETting. Goodbye Human. Die." Right as the pellets were about to hit Alex, they were blocked by a bunch of bones. Flowey's evil smirk disappeared and turned to an angry frown.

"Shit, not the trashbag!" And with that Flowey quickly vanished into the ground. Alex began to try to pick themselves up when they felt pain jolt through their body. 'Guess hp had something to do with my health', they thought. As they tried again, they heard another, new, voice nearby.

 _"hey kiddo, you alright?_ " The voice said. Alex looked up and saw a short skeleton standing before them. It was wearing a blue hoodie, black shorts, and… some slippers? Alex decided to reply, "N-not really sir. I think I'm hurt."

The skeleton extended a hand, _"here, pal. grab hold."_ As Alex firmly grasped the hand, they noticed it was much softer than they thought a skeleton's hand should be. Suddenly, a long fart sound emanated from the whoopee cushion in the skeleton's hand. Alex couldn't help but laugh as they were brought to their feet.

 _"hehehe, glad to see someone has a funny bone."_ The skeleton said. _"hey, so you're a human from the surface, right?"_ Alex simply nodded after their laughter finished dying down. _"cool, i'm actually on watch for humans around here. i'm here to make sure they're safe from… things like that flower. anyways, what's your name?"_

"My name is Alex, what's yours?" The skeleton then replied, _"i'm sans, sans the skeleton. if you don't mind me askin', how'd you fall down here? we haven't seen a human in months..."_ Alex looked into the eyes of the skeleton. Well, not really eyes, more like pupils floating in his skull where eyes normally would be.

"I was looking for my best friend. They went missing a while back and the last I heard of them, they were heading toward Mount Ebbot." Sans then tilted his skull slightly, _"well, what did they look like? maybe i'd seen 'em."_

Alex suddenly felt a little bit of hope. No one was willing to help them search on the surface. Maybe they went Underground. Alex replied, "They normally wear a blue sweater with purple stripes. They're about as tall as me with dark hair." Upon hearing the description, Sans' pupils dropped slightly, making him look sad, even with the grin still adorning his face. _"well, kid. i've got a story to tell ya, but let's go to the next room to talk."_


	3. The Ruins

Upon the two entering the next room, Alex saw what appeared to be a 4-sided yellow star oscillating near a bunch of leaves. Still injured, they walked up to it and reached their right hand out towards it. Something about it made Alex compelled to touch it. Upon contact, a thought burst into their head,

 ***The serenity of these leaves fills you with Purity.**

 ***Health Fully Restored.**

Alex looked at themselves in awe. The voice was right, their bruises and injuries were all gone as a feeling of relaxation and rejuvenation washed over them. Even the headache they had forgotten about had left them. Sans, standing a few feet behind them, cleared his throat, or at least tried to.

Alex spun around, "Sans, did you see that? This star healed me!" Sans' pupils disappeared for a moment and his smile slightly lowered. As quickly as his expression changed, it reversed its direction and he looked normal again. _"really, pal? that's great pal… so, umm, you wanna talk while we're in here?"_

Alex replied, "Yeah, that'd be great. So you've seen my friend, Frisk?" Sans, exhaled as they both took and seat on the stairs in the room and began to speak.

 _"yeah kid. i saw frisk. they arrived here a few months ago."_ Alex's eyes opened a little wider after having his suspicions confirmed. "So, where's Frisk now? Are they ok?" " _…alex, i havent seen the kid in months. they were preparing to fight asgore, our king, and leave when something odd happened."_ Sans, looked into Alex's deep, brown eyes. " _frisk must've fought asgore, won, and left back to the surface. all that remained was dust from their battle."_

Alex's eyes began to tear up, but also felt anger begin to arise within them. "Sans…" " _yeah kiddo?"_ "Y-you're wrong. Frisk would never hurt anyone, much less kill them!" Alex gradually became louder, avidly defending their best friend.

" _listen kid, i'll tell ya, frisk never once killed or hurt anyone when they traveled through. but from what we found at the barrier, this seems to be the only logical explanation."_ Alex looked down and breathed in and out for a few moments to calm themselves down. Anger wasn't going to help them.

Alex then looked Sans in his eyes and spoke again, "Yeah, I get it, but there's one problem with that theory. If Frisk did actually return to the surface, where were they?" Sans' expression turned into on of confusion as Alex continued. "The mountain you are all under is no more than a mile away from our town. There would have been something the police would have found if they had actually gotten out.

 _"i see... welp, then i may have an idea on how to find out where they are."_ It was now Alex's turn to look confused. "What do you mean? How could you track someone who's been gone for months?" Sans stood up and spoke once more, " _well, based on what i saw back there with that flower, it appears that your soul was not red, but silver. this might mean that frisk is still the primary anomaly in the timeline. i'll explain more soon, but that means i might be able to track them down."_

Timeline? Anomaly? More questions began to pop up in Alex's head, but even so, it now appears that they could finally find Frisk. They stood up and spoke after thinking for a moment. "Great. So where are we going?"

 _"well, i've got a lab at my house that has what we need, but it's a good distance away. luckily, i know a shortcut, follow me."_ Sans held out their had as Alex grabbed it. They walked up the stairs when out of the corner of their eye, they could've sworn they saw something moving in the shadows. Something unnatural. They then walked through the door with a new sense of purpose. Finally, everything was coming into place and they finally know what happened to Frisk.

* * *

Sans and Alex entered the next room, which had several 'buttons' on the ground. Some of them were already pushed down and the next door to leave the room was open. It appears this was some sort of puzzle that was previously solved. Sans' smile completely dissipated, leaving only a frown.

 _"wait, why are we here? Why didn't my shortcut work?"_ Alex looked at Sans with a confused expression of their own. Wasn't this the next room. It looked like everything worked correctly. "Sans, what do you mean?" Sans still stood there for another minute looking very confused until he finally spoke.

 _"we should already be at my house, but… my shortcut didn't work. they've never failed before. something is wrong, we should be careful."_ Even with his smile, Sans appeared eerily serious. His pupils had disappeared, leaving only darkness within his eye sockets. They quickly returned, making him less frightening.

The two of them continued onto the next room that had bridges and switches. Once again, the puzzle-looking structures were already finished. The next room had some sort of training dummy in it. A few rooms later after walking over a spiked floor and through a long hallway, they arrived in another room with leaves and some sort of black and white looking frog. Sans pulled out a cellphone and called someone up, " _hey bro, gotta moment?"_ They other person on the other end of the phone call was so loud that Alex could clearly hear every word they said.

"OF COURSE BROTHER. HOW GOES THE LOOK FOR HUMANS? DID YOU FIND ONE?"

 _"wow bro, how'd you know? did you feel it in your bones?"_

"I'M GOING TO PRETEND YOU DIDN'T JUST DO THAT AND ASSUME YOU HAD A REASON TO CALL OTHER THAN TO PUN ME TO DEATH."

 _"c'mon, bro, i know that rattled your bones."_

"AHHHHHH. QUITE SANS!"

 _"anyway, well, i did find a human today, their name is alex and they know frisk."_ "

OH MY GOD! REALLY?! NYEH HEH HEH! EXCELLENT NEWS, DID YOU TELL TORIEL ABOUT YOUR FINDING?

" _no, but i will. anyway, you should meet us by the door to the ruins. don't ya wanna meet 'em?"_

"EXCELLENT IDEA SANS, I'LL EVEN BRING SPAGETTI FOR OUR NEW FRIEND TO HAVE. NYEH HEHE HEHE!"

 _"alright, see ya soon bro."_

Sans, then hung up and looked over to Alex. " _sorry about that, just letting my bro papyrus know about you."_

"No problem. Your brother sounds cool."

Sans' smile perked up a bit, _"yeah, he is pretty cool. c'mon, let's get outta here."_

"Hey, weren't you supposed to call someone named Toriel too?"

Sans smile grew slightly, " _dont you know its rude to eavesdrop?"_ Alex held both of their arms in the air in defense of themselves, "Hey Sans, don't blame me. Your conversation wasn't exactly low key." As if right on cue, the frog that was silent the entire time hopped over and nodded as it said "Froggit. Froggit." As if it was agreeing with Alex. Sans sighed, closing his eye sockets somehow for a moment in defeat and said, " _yeah, i know. let's go."_

And so they began walking forward. Many rooms went by as they passed by and encountered many pre-solved puzzles and other friendly monsters. They never once tried to hurt Alex. Finally, after what seemed like hours of walking, they reached what appeared to be a tree in front of an old house. Alex, still looking at the house, asked Sans "Where are we now?"

" _this was toriel's old house. she hasn't been here since frisk left… or disappeared."_

"Hey, who is this 'Toriel'?

 _"oh, that's right. you wouldn't know her since you're new. she's the queen of the underground! and she has a knack for jokes like me."_

Alex nodded as the two of them walked inside. For being abandoned, the place was still in pretty good shape, as if sensing that Alex was thinking, Sans spoke, " _i've been watching over this place as a favor to her. why don't you just relax in here as i speak to her ok? be right back."_ Sans then walked out the door, leaving Alex alone. Curiosity overcame them as they began to snoop around and explore the house.

Alex decided to explore to the left first. They found a fireplace that looks to have been cold, bone cold, for a long time now. Haha, they'd have to remember that for Sans. They looked at the bookshelf and saw a book called, "72 Uses for Snails". Alex decided that this was not something they wanted to know, so they walked away towards the next room and entered the kitchen.

Starting to get hungry, they looked around in the drawers and cabinets for food. One of the drawers had utensils, but no knives, which was kind of odd. They continued searching until their eyes nearly doubled in size. Before them, right in the middle of the fridge, was a bar of chocolate.

Alex stepped back for a moment and began to think out loud, "Well, Sans did say this place was abandoned." So they began to reach for them before feeling almost a pang of guilt.

They spoke again, "But this stuff isn't mine. It isn't right to steal."

Then they had another thought, "At the same time though, if I leave it, it'll eventually go bad, thus wasting food. If I take it, however, then I won't be wasting food and I'd be doing the right thing." After going back and forth for a solid minute, they eventually gave into their hunger and grabbed it. Without a moment to rethink if this was truly the right course of action, they immediately opened the wrapper and ate half of the bar. It instantly dissolved in their mouth and their HP was maxed out again. Feeling less hungry, Alex pocketed the rest of the bar for later, perhaps.

Alex walked back through the living room and past the entrance to check out the other side of the house. The walked through the right doorway and entered a hallway. There were three doors in this hall, but one was impossible to open. Deciding to go in the first door, they found what appeared to be a child's bedroom. Did Toriel have a child? Maybe, but they looked around the room and fond various things from toys to clothing.

They then observed the bed. It looked comfortable, so they sat down on it for a moment when they felt something underneath them. Upon moving back the sheet to investigate, Alex found something incredible familiar. On the bed was a bracelet. It was one that Alex had made for Frisk two years ago for their birthday.

"That means Frisk passed through here! Frisk must have lost it and left it here. Good thing I've been looking around."

Alex then put it on their wrist when they suddenly felt more protected. They looked more closely at the bracelet and some faint words appeared next to it,

 ** _*Friendship Bracelet. +15 DEF_**

 ** _*Imbued with friendship and Pure Determination._**

Guess that means that it's good, thought Alex.

They walked over to the other room in the hallway and found what appeared to be a master bedroom. This must have been Toriel's room. On top of the bookshelf in here, there was a bright yellow flower that immediately caught Alex's attention. It was so pretty, and it looked just like the flowers that they landed on when they fell down here. Alex jumped up and grabbed the flowers before putting them away in their pocket.

Maybe Toriel would like the flower, she must have forgotten it here. They continued to look around. They looked under the bed and found an old, dusty photo. Alex reached out and grabbed it. Perhaps this photo was lost and never found under there, they thought.

They looked at it and saw what appeared to be another human child and a goat-like child monster. They were hugging each other tightly and smiling. This warmed Alex's heart. This reminded them of how they were with Frisk. They were so close they might as well have been siblings. They flipped it over and saw some faded marker that could barely be read, " **Chara and Asriel. Best Friends Forever."**

Alex pondered this. Maybe the kid fell down here too and bonded with the monsters. Although, since it wasn't labeled, they couldn't tell which one was Asriel and which one was Chara. They put the photo in their pocket as well. "If Toriel had lost this a long time ago, I'm sure they'd love to have it back.", they thought aloud. Alex then proceeded to exit the room.

As they closed the door behind them, they heard Sans behind them, " _whatcha doin' there kiddo."_ Shit, they'd just been spotted snooping around. They spun around the looked at Sans momentarily before looking down. Sans didn't look too upset.

"S-sorry about that. I was, I was just curious to see if Frisk was here before. I- I found something of theirs!" Alex held up their left arm to show Sans the friendship bracelet they made for Frisk.

Sans sighed, " _it's alright kiddo, i shouldn't have been on the phone that long. was just explaining to tori everything that going on."_ Sans put their hand on Alex's shoulder and together they walked back into the main room with the stairs and exit.

Sans spoke up again. " _alright alex. down the stairs is the exit out of the ruins. papyrus should be waiting for us on the other side by now. you go on ahead while i make one last phone call. it shouldn't be long."_ Alex nodded before walking down the steps. They walked down a long hallway before seeing a large door. Was this the exit?

They opened the door and found another hallway. Guess this was the entrance to the exit? Alex snickered at their own comment as they walked down this hallway. They made their way to another doorway, which had another star here in front of it. They held out their hand once more and felt rejuvenated at another message was transmitted from the weird star.

 ***The shadows in the next room are shifting violently, but you are filled with Pure Determination.**

 ***Health Fully Restored.**

That was odd, Alex thought. What was that about Pure Determination? Last time it said purity. And the thing about the shifting shadows, that didn't sound good. They then walked through the doorway and saw a small patch of grass in the surrounding darkness of the room. Their eyes focused upon a figure standing just beyond the grassy patch. Their eyes then widened as they realized it was the child from the photo. Alex only heard one sentence before the world became black and white like it did with Flowey.

 **"Greetings. I'm Chara."**


	4. The First Fallen Child

**_(As a note, the boss fights will be told from a Second-Person Perspective, thus making them feel more like the fights from the original game.)_**

* * *

Before you is a child, no more than 10 years of age. They have a striped sweater and pants, similar to yours. They have hair nearly shoulder length and rosy cheeks. Their face maintained a creepy smile with bright red eyes that seemed to almost glow. Their left hand is holding a… is that a real knife? Suddenly, they speak.

 **"Greetings Alex."**

You only tilt your head slightly to the right and wonder how they know your name.

 **"I'm going to be completely honest with you. The person who brought me back told me about you…"**

Suddenly, their knife flashed red as a large slash was created near your Silver soul. You barely dodge the single attack.

 **"…You're not going anywhere."**

 _[Cue "Megalo Strikes Back"]_

In front of you appear the four choice boxes of FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY.

 _ ***ACT**_

 _ ***CHECK**_

 ** _*Chara Dreemurr – ATK 30 DEF Pretty High_**

 ** _*The ghostly 1st fallen child. Likes Knives. Hates Humanity._**

Well, that certainly didn't inspire much hope in you. You prepare for the next attack as you watch Chara.

 **"You know, I was told I could live once more, I could end Humanity's bloodlust, but I had to do something… something that sounded so simple at the time..."**

Chara's smile grew larger as they began throwing knifes at your soul. The moment they entered the battle box, they came to a complete stop before then continuing in a random direction. They went left and right. Never at perfect angels. One sliced down the middle of your soul while you dodged the rest.

 ***HP 15/20**

You didn't have it in you to hurt others, much like Frisk. That's another reason you two were always inseparable.

 _ ***ACT**_

 _ ***PLEAD**_

*You plead with Chara to stop this. As you try to explain why this is wrong, they cut you off...

 **"Excuse me, I was speaking, not you. Anyways, I was told to prevent you from altering anything. Just stop any progression. Stop your snooping... but then the idea hit me. Why not take your soul and do everything I want? Without the strings attached!"**

Chara held the knife tighter and sliced the battle box into nine equal squares. Right as your soul moves out of the slices and into a piece of the broken box, the cuts shine bright red. This, indicating that you made a wise decision. After that attack ended, you now could do something else.

 _ ***ACT**_

 _ ***PLEAD**_

*You beg Chara for mercy. You tell them you are harmless and would never hurt anyone!

 **"No mercy from me, human, and don't lie to me! All humans are the same! This is my chance. Humanity's end is fast approaching. I am the true hero of this story. Now, just die."**

 *** _It seems that pleading for mercy is useless._**

Suddenly, a straight line of red knifes appeared over the box. You knew, deep down, that this attack was unavoidable, and would spell disaster.

 **"What? You thought I'd play fair with a dirty human like you? Hahaha, don't make me laugh!"**

As the knives sped toward you, they suddenly turned blue and flew right back towards Chara. This surprised Chara, so they didn't have time to dodge, and you witness their health bar to appear only to see less that 1% of it get shaved off. What happened?

Sans suddenly appeared, sliding in from the left. _"man, can't a guy just have just 5 minutes to talk on the phone?"_

 ***You tell Sans how great it is to see him.**

 _"hehe, i know. looks like this brats' got a bone to pick with 'ya. not to worry, pal. this numbskulls got some tricks up his sleeves."_ Sans then filled the battle box with a green aura, rejuvenating you just like the gold star from earlier!

 ***Your HP was maxed out.**

 _ ***ACT**_

 _ ***PLEAD**_

*You tell Chara that not all humans are bad. You also point out that they're human too.

 **"Not anymore, I'm not! I'm better than all of you now. And you!"** Chara points their knife at Sans. **"Why don't you go bother someone else. His soul is mine."**

Chara then threw a red knife at Sans, who simply slide to the side and dodged. Chara seemed unhappy by this. It seemed that dodgeing attacks was not something that commonly occurred.

" _what? you think i'm just gonna stand there and take it?"_ Chara then directed their attention towards you. Red beams of pure energy shot out of the blade of the knife and prepared to flood the battle box.

Suddenly, blue bones materialize around the box, protecting your soul from any damage by preventing any of the beams from entering the box. Upon closer inspection, Sans' left eye was flashing blue and gold, aflame. Chara, obviously, was displeased. Their smile quickly fading. They turned the beams towards Sans, who once again slid out of harm's way effortlessly.

 _ ***ACT**_

 _ ***PLEAD**_

*You tell Chara that humanity isn't as bad as they think. You also tell Chara that the both of you are better than this!

*They seem unconvinced.

 **"Enough of your games, your smiley trashbag."**

Suddenly, Sans was surrounded by red energy beams that formed a cage around them. Sans' smile shrunk and Chara's returned. **"Based on my Intel, you can't use shortcuts right now, right? Stay there and you'll be unharmed, for now..."** Sans brought the large blue bones back to him, within the energy cage and began to use them to push against the cage.

You watch as more energy floods through the beams, resisting Sans' attempts at freedom. You realize that this strategy might now prevent Chara from using overpower attacks.

Chara then turns everything but the top right corner of the box a pale red. A second later, the pale red became a bright red. Unable to move your soul quick enough, you get caught up in the attack and take damage. Chara's not holding anything back. As soon as the red dims within the box, Chara sends more knives towards your soul, which you barely dodge.

 ***HP 14/20**

 _ ***ITEM**_

 _ ***1/2 CHOCOLATE BAR**_

*Your HP was maxed out.

*Chara seems displeased upon seeing the Chocolate. Maybe you should've shared?

 **"Wait a moment, that chocolate bar. WHERE DID YOU GET IT FROM? That's what m-… she always gave me!"**

 ***You now think you have something to work with. A new option has now appeared in the ACT menu.**

Once again, nearly everything in the box turned pale red except a small section in the middle. You manage to get your soul there before the pale red flashes. This repeats, with another random spot near the top left corner of the box being normal and everything else glowing. You quickly get there unharmed. You avoided damage this turn. You look over at Sans to see no progress made thus far on his end, but Chara was still using energy over there.

 _ ***ACT**_

 _ ***QUESTION**_

*You ask Chara if Toriel would be ok with what they're doing. They're smile faded completely.

 **"How… HOW DARE YOU BRING HER UP! LEAVE MY MOM OUT OF THIS!"** Chara was now enraged. Chara's ATK increased.

Chara created a large red X through the box, which quickly flashed without any warning and damaging your soul. They did the same thing with a large +, which you managed to dodge.

* **HP 12/20**

 _ ***ACT**_

 _ ***QUESTION**_

*You ask Chara if someone in their past caused this hate humanity.

*They do not like this line of questioning.

 **"You know nothing about me! Just shut up and… DIE!"** Chara's DEF slightly decreased. Their wicked smile returned. You could see the bars of Sans' prison beginning to weaken as they focused more energy on you.

Chara pulled all of his energy into a single large singularity of energy just as big as the battle box. They unleashed it as a beam onto the box, but your soul turned dark blue instantly. Gravity was changed to the left as your soul then flew in that direction. It hit the box so hard that you lost 2 HP, but the box moved in that direction just enough to allow you to avoid Chara's energy beam. Your soul then returned to its silver color as gravity returned to normal at the same time. Chara's smile vanished instantaneously.

 _"sorry brat, but i'm afraid today just isn't your day."_

 **"You're asking for it you bag of bones."** Sans snickered at Chara's pun.

 ** _*ITEM_**

 ** _*Flower (Buttercup)_**

*You take out flower and hold it in your hand like a weapon. + _0.1 ATK_

 _*_ What made you think this was a good choice for a weapon? **  
**

 ***Chara is unnerved by seeing the flower in your hand. Chara's ATK decreased.**

 **"T-that flower… Why would you have that? To tease me? Who told you about those?"** Sans looked just as confused as you are. Something about these flowers bothers Chara. Time to bluff, perhaps?

Chara threw dozens of red knives at you. The knives tried to lock onto you, but you were too fast for them thanks to Sans altering gravity on your soul. Chara was displeased with Sans' intrusion and locked him into another cage, this time devoting more energy into it to prevent another escape. Chara then looked at you again with their smile now returning, just as creepy as ever!

 **"I asked you a question human! Who told you about these flowers?!"**

 ***You reach into your pocket and feel the dusty photo. It fills you with Pure Determination.**

 _ ***ITEM**_

 _ ***Dusty Photo**_

*You tell Chara that they should stop. You ask how their best friend Asriel would feel about this.

Chara simply stood there for a moment with their head slightly bowed, allowing their long hair to cover their eyes. They slowly lifted their head up.

 **"…Assy…"** Chara's DEF dropped greatly.

 **"He's the reason why were all like this now!"** they screamed. Chara suddenly looked straight up into the pure darkness above everyone, shouting to someone who wasn't present.

 **"WHY?! WHY DIDN'T YOU CHANGE THIS?!"** The shadows seemed to have sifted. Chara is starting to seem reluctant to FIGHT, but continued on with their next attack with no hesitation.

Chara sliced the battle box by shaving off small pieces around your soul as the box got smaller. It was now half the size it originally was. Chara then proceeded to make what remained turn a dull red except for the bottom right corner. You moved your soul immediately to that spot before the dull red flashed brightly. You avoided another attack, but then everything but a spot in the middle of the left side of the box turned a dull red. You raced over there just in time as the rest of the box flashed red. This process repeated likewise three more times before Chara ended their turn.

 _ ***ACT**_

 _ ***PLEAD**_

*You tell Chara they aren't really a bad person. That everything can still be fixed.

 ***Chara seemed to have slowed their breathing slightly.**

 **"You have no idea what's going on do you? I shouldn't be alive. I shouldn't… I shouldn't…" *** Chara skipped their turn. The ACT options have changed again.

 _[Cue "Megalo Strikes Back" fading out]_

 _ ***ACT**_

 _ ***COMFORT**_

*You tell Chara it's ok. You tell them that you'll listen to what they need to say.

 ***Chara seems slightly comforted by that. A faint, genuine smile appears on their face as they seemed to have disappeared for a split second only to immediately reappear.**

 ***Sans' prison faded out of existence, leaving the, now napping, skeleton on the floor. The glowing knife falls out of Chara's hand.**

 **"You know, you remind me of Azzy? He always saw the good in people. Even when most of us aren't. Humans… We are quite despicable... We did this to them, yet they only try to be nice to us… It's so hard to understand…"**

*You tell Chara that they really are a good person, and humanity isn't all despicable. Chara doesn't seem to fully believe you. Sans began to awaken.

 **"Haha, poor Azzy, it's my fault he died. I should have never came up with that plan… then those dirty humans would never have had the chance to do that to him."**

*You comfort Chara and tell them that it wasn't all their fault.

 **"I appreciate the comfort, but I gotta be honest with you… If you haven't noticed I'm fading away. I'll try to tell you everything I can before I fade away. Your unique soul may be the one thing that could fix everything."**

*You nod and listen carefully to what Chara has to say. Sans stands up and his eye begins to flash once more, you send a look over to Sans. As if to tell him 'not right now'. He seems to have understood. **  
**

 **"He… No, that thing… It brought me back to prevent you from doing anything that could alter his 'variables'. I was awakened the moment you fell down here. That… monster, a Doctor maybe, said something about timelines and anomalies, but..."** Chara suddenly disappeared out of existence.

Sans now stood close to wear Chara was. His eye flashed blue and gold has his use his magic to pull the remaining pieces of Chara back together into existence. Chara looked amazed and speechless. They were now glowing blue as Sans continued to hold them in reality, which was quickly beginning to fail.

 _"hey kid, what was that about timelines? i don't believe you finished your explaination."_

Chara continued. **"…but whoever did this has a lot of control over everything, even reality. More than I thought possible. They even brought me back. Hell, they could probably erase everything if they wanted... And now that I'm no longer useful, now that I betrayed him... he's gonna tear me from existence."** As if right on cue, the blue aura around them began to shudder and turn grey. Fear erupted in Chara's eyes.

You could tell that they didn't want to return to being dead, or whatever they were before. Chara spoke again before they could no longer do so, **"Please, stop this. Fix everything. I, I'm sorry Alex… I'm sorry Asriel..."**

*You run up and embrace Chara in a hug. You tell them you will do everything in your power to do help them.

 **"Thank you…"**

Suddenly, the grey aura overcame Sans' magic and pulled Chara apart into oblivion. The world regained all of its color as you sat in the grass near Sans as he simply stood there, speechless, with his eye still ablaze.

*You felt like this was only the beginning of a grand adventure. These monsters need help, just like Frisk.

*Knowing that you could save everyone, you are filled with Pure Justice and Patience.


	5. Leaving the Ruins

Exhausted. That's the only word to describe how Alex felt. That kid, Chara was it? They were hurting. Hurting really badly. Only having seen and heard about them prior to the fight, Alex couldn't help but feel bad for Chara. They had tried to save monsters, but became lost in their own hatred. It was sad, really.

Then another thought crossed Alex's mind. There was something about what Chara said that got Alex thinking. They had died long ago, yet was brought back by some entity with access to unimaginable power. If they could reverse death and tear someone from existence, then why else could they do. And who was this person who had control over this 'timeline'? They'd have to ask Sans to further explain this.

Alex put their hands firmly on the grass and the hard earth beneath, feeling the dirt and blades beneath them. They push and force themselves up to examine themselves after that fight. Their favorite red and white sweater was unharmed, thank God. Unfortunately, they could not say the same for their jeans. Looking down, they noticed the new holes in their dark blue jeans. Man, those were their nicest pair too. Now, looking further down, they examined their red, white, and blue shoes, which were not covered in dust from the earth. How patriotic, they thought.

Alex's gaze moved to examine their arms, which other than a few scrapes and bruises, were perfectly normal. Now that they knew they were pretty much unharmed, Alex moved their right hand through their pure black hair to move the hairs out of their eyes and back into a nicer position.

Completely done with their self-examination, they turn their attention to their new buddy, Sans. He still stood there in shock from the fight. Alex began to approach Sans. Although they didn't know Sans very well, Alex couldn't help but try to comfort their new friend.

* * *

Sans stood there on the dark earth just feet from the kid. What had just happened? He just finished making some phone calls to Toriel and Alphys. He had only stepped away for a minute, but when they approached Alex, they had engaged in a fight with that kid, no… brat, Chara. If he hadn't stepped in, Alex might have been killed by that brat.

But it still made no sense that they should've been alive… Sans knew he was going to have to check out the readings in his lab to confirm his suspicions, but if his theory about all of this was correct, then everyone was gonna be in for a bad time.

But back to the present, his eye must have frightened the poor kid. Sans couldn't just sit there and let that dead brat try to hurt the poor kid, which led to him using almost his full power. His eye and abilities were meant to only be used as a last resort, but the kid needed him and Alex seemed to be a pretty good kid.

However, Sans will admit, their eye can be quite frightening, even if he was only doing it to protect them. Sans let out a loud sigh and slightly shrunk as he slumped in his posture and slightly bowed his head. He closed his eye sockets, allowing them to return to normal. Suddenly, he feels a hand on his right shoulder.

Sans turns around and opens his eyes, only to be looking directly into the kid's pure brown eyes. He opens his mouth to speak first, still worried about the kid, _"hey kiddo, how're you feelin'?"_ The kid, looking straight into his eyes, maybe his soul, spoke calmly in response.

"I-I'm alright. What about you?" The kids innocence was kinda cute. It's nice to know they care about how he felt. Someone raised the kid right!

 _"i'm fine. no broken bones, but tibia honest i think the other kid got under my skin. other than that, my funny bone seems intact."_

Alex's immediate response was music to Sans' non-existent ears. Pure joy and laughter.

"Hahahahahaha! Good one Sans, that joke was a real rib tickler if you ask me." Sans couldn't help but increase his grin at that one. This kid was getting better by the moment.

 _"welp, i'm glad you found that humerus, but we should probably continue on before i lose my head."_

The two new friends enjoy a quick laugh before walking to the other end of the large dark room. They make their way to a big purple door with a cool-looking symbol on it before stopping for just a moment.

 _"alright, listen kid. on the other side of this door is probably gonna be another spooky scary skeleton, but don't lose your cool to the cold and you'll be just fine. ready?"_

Sans looks over to the left to see Alex right beside them. They simply display a determined expression on their face and nod with a quick "Hmph!" Sans takes that as a yes before opening the door, letting the cold air brush by them and the light shine in as they prepare to step out.

* * *

Darkness. Just Darkness. Pure darkness. Nothing should exist in such a void. Yet, standing there is a skeleton-like figure. He's standing there in his pure black suit with a white turtleneck underneath. Atop his pure black suit is a white lab coat that reaches down to his shoes, which are unsurprisingly black as well. He has one arm horizontally across his chest with that hand holding his right elbow as his right hand strokes his chin. Each hand has a large hole in the center, allowing anything small enough to pass through the middle.

His eyes have cuts leaving them. His left eye's cut in the skull leads up to the top while the right leads into his mouth. He stands there quite for a moment, staring into the void before speaking aloud. Being alone, this is nothing except speaking aloud to himself.

His speech, distorted. Almost like he's speaking a different language, but at the same time, he's not.

 ** _"INTERESTING… CHARA'S DETERMINATION WAS HIGHER THAN ANTICIPATED. CHARA MIGHT HAVE SUCCEEDED IN THEIR GOAL, HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE ASSISTANCE…"_**

Gaster stood there thinking. Chara shouldn't have lasted as long as they did. The moment Chara's true intentions were revealed, Gaster had tried to remove Chara from existence and return them to their grave. Gaster did not want Alex to die, there had to be a way to stop them peacefully, but his patience was running thin due to the betrayal. Gaster moved his hands to make both of his palms face him while putting both hands about a foot from his face.

 ** _"PERHAPS IT IS TIME THAT I TAKE CONTROL OF SOMEONE RATHER THAN INSERT SOMEONE INTO THE TIMELINE. FURTHER RESISTANCE AGAINST ME WILL NOT BE TOLERATED…"_**

Suddenly, as if on cue, six souls appeared in front of him. They were blue, light blue, orange, purple, green, and yellow. The souls of Integrity, Patience, Bravery, Perseverance, Kindness, and Justice. They swirled in a figure eight between Gaster's hand while going through the center of his hand. Gaster looked on at them for a moment before looking forward.

The darkness before him changed to show a human hanging by their arms, but also with their feet firmly on the ground. They were wearing a blue and purple striped sweater with matching blue pants and brown shoes. Their brown hair nearly reached their shoulders and covered their eyes as their head was bowed from exhaustion. Their bright red soul was on display in front of them, but had lines of black over it, showing they were captive. The human before Gaster seemed to notice their proximity to each other and looked up, directly at Gaster.

 ** _"WORRY NOT FRISK, EVERYTHING WILL BE OVER SOON. YOUR DETERMINATION EXCEEDS MOST, YOU KNOW? SOON, WITH ALEX'S SOUL UNDER MY CONTROL, I'LL BE ABLE TO FIX EVERYTHING. THEN, YOU'LL BE RETURNED TO NORMAL, I PROMISE._**

Upon hearing their friend's name being used, Frisk fought back a tear. Frisk yelled at Gaster to leave Alex alone and just punish them. Alex did nothing wrong. Gaster, remaining calm replied with indifference.

 ** _"FRISK, THEY FELL DOWN HERE LOOKING FOR YOU. HAD THEY NEVER ENTERED THE UNDERGROUND, EVERYTHING WOULD BE FINE. DON'T WORRY THOUGH, I HAVE NO INTENTION OF KILLING THEM, BUT YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT I CAN'T LET THEM INTERFERE WITH MY PLAN. THIS IS TOO IMPORTANT…"_**

Frisk fought back more tears as the news hits them. Alex came down here looking for them. Oh no, they had forgotten about Alex. They were so focused on getting out and freeing the monsters that they never thought about Alex and how they'd feel when they went missing. Frisk couldn't take it, knowing it was their fault Alex was in danger. Frisk shed a tear, which hits the ground with a thud. Gaster noticed this.

 ** _"*sigh* FRISK, EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE. I'M ONLY DOING THIS TO SAVE YOU ALL. WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT? IF ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL I'M DOING THIS. AFTER ALL, I COULD HAVE LET CHARA KILL THEM…"_**

Frisk continued to cry, but tried with all their might to keep quiet. Gaster looked away from the crying child and commanded the souls to leave his sight. He waved his hand to have a small window appear in front of him to view the world.

Inside, Gaster sees the snow and trees of Snowdin Forest. He saw his son Papyrus standing before a large door as it began to open. They had already tried to sway the human against their current path, but if this human, Alex, tries anything else to change things, he may have to intervene once more. But, he would prefer that they simply stop and befriend his two sons than have to do this. If only he could rip Alex from existence like he did with Chara, but something… or someone… was preventing him. Perhaps it was the child's soul?

* * *

Papyrus shifted awkwardly, waiting for Sans and this new human to come out of the ruins. This skeleton was taller than Sans, standing tall in his 'Battle Body'. A costume he made many many months ago for a party that he simply cold not part with. It included a white chest plate with a gold trim on parts of his arms and near his waist. Around his waist are blue brifs with a golden belt. Adorning his feet are knee-high orange-redish boots and orangish-red gloves on his arms. Around his neck is a redish-orange scarf, and in his right hand is a covered plate of his favorite dish, Spaghetti.

Papyrus was waiting excitedly but nervously to meet this new human Sans had told him about. It has been a while since the last human had come through and left, and Papyrus really missed them. Frisk had been a great friend who enjoyed puzzles and pasta with him, so Papyrus was hopeful. Perhaps this human would be just as good as the last, maybe even better. Nyeh heh heh, he could hardly wait, which made it even harder.

Sans had called over two hours ago to meet him here at the door, but he should have already come out by now. Did they run into trouble? Why didn't Sans just shortcut over to their house with the human? And why must it be so freaking cold out, not that it effected Papyrus? Unfortunately, though, if they took much longer, the pasta would be cold, and no one would like that. The great Papyrus was about ready to open the door and look for them when the door suddenly made a loud noise, almost causing the plate to fall into the snow.

If not for the great reflexes of the great Papyrus, his pasta would be lost history in the snow. As the door opened wider, Papyrus couldn't help but smile as he saw Sans walk out with a new human in a red and white sweater. Time to make a new friend!

* * *

Alex was slightly blinded by the sudden increase in light. They were… outside? Weren't they underground? And God is it cold or what?! Around them, now that their eyes had adjusted to the light, was snow and trees to their left and right. A path was ahead of them going off into the distance. When Alex saw the snow, they began to wonder how the snow formed so far underground. Then they noticed, to their left was another skeleton in a white, blue, and orange outfit. This must be the brother Sans was talking to on the phone who was really loud. Upon seeing this skeleton, only a single word came to Alex's mind. Cool.


	6. Snowdin Forest

Now Alex's eyes were completely adjusted. Around them was snow, its source being completely unknown. Maybe magic? In front of Alex was a path through the snow that led of into the distance, which Alex was sure they were going to walk down soon. To both sides of them were very, very tall trees reaching towards the top of the incredibly huge cavern beneath the mountain.

Again, to their left was the second skeleton leaning against a tree next to a bush, with the first skeleton right beside Alex but slowly approaching the second. The one leaning against the tree looked happy, yet had a look of slight annoyance. Probably due to how long they were in there thanks to the fight with Chara.

 _"oh hey, sup bro."_

"YOU KNOW WHAT'S UP BROTHER. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE AN HOUR AGO! WHAT TOOK SO LONG?"

 _"well, we ran into a ghost kid we had to fight."_

"*GASP* A GHOST? LIKE METTATON? WHERE'D THEY GO?"

 _"well, it really boo-thered them that we spooked 'em so hard, so they disappeared."_

"AAHHHHHHHHHHH! WHY WITH THE PUNS ALREADY?!"

 _"c'mon, you're smiling."_

"I AM AND I HATE IT."

Alex couldn't help but giggle at the amusing conversation between the two brothers. They were both pretty funny. The quiet giggle got the attention of the two skeleton brothers.

"OH, RIGHT. *AHEM* GREETINGS HUMAN. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS. NICE TO MEET YOU."

"Hi Papyrus, nice to meet you too. You know, you're pretty cool!"

"WOWIE! A GENUINE COMPLEMENT. THANKS HUMAN! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"I'm Alex, by the way."

"OK ALEX, I'M SURE YOU'VE ALREADY MET MY BROTHER SANS HERE, RIGHT?"

 _"oh course bro. i found 'em and helped them fight a ghost, remember?"_

"OH YEAH. I FORGOT THAT YOU JUST TOLD ME THAT. ANYWAY, YOU GUYS WANT SOME SPAGHETTI? IT WAS FRESH EARLIER, BUT YOU TOOK SO LONG I FEARED IT MIGHT GET COLD, BUT I THINK IT'S STILL GOOD!"

Alex's stomach began to grumble. "Oh yes, spaghetti sounds good."

"EXCELLENT. UP AHEAD IS SANS' SENTRY STATION. WE CAN ENJOY THE CUISINE UP THERE! NYEH HEH HEH!"

And with that final word, Papyrus dashed away from Sans and Alex down the path. Sans sighed and walked back over to Alex. _"dontcha think my bros' cool?"_ Alex nodded in agreement. _"oh course he is, now c'mon kiddo. paps is up ahead at my station."_

They then both prepare to walk down the path when something about the bush catches their eye. Alex walks over to the bush to inspect it when they find what appears to be a camera, but something was wrong with it. It appeared to have some sort of black slime over the lens and the body of the camera seemed cracked. It's almost as if someone damaged the camera so its owner couldn't use it. Behind them, Sans called out to them, _"hey kiddo, c'mon. leave the bush alone. it's time to make like a tree and leaf."_ Alex snickers at the joke as he rejoins Sans by his side and they continue to walk down the path.

They continue walking for a minute before coming to a small wooden bridge over a big hole. There appears to be a wooded beam over the bridge with four bars hanging down from it attached to the ground or the bridge. It looks like it was supposed to block something from walking over the bridge, but the bars are too wide to do anything. After looking at the odd structure for a moment, the two of them walk over the bridge and into a small clearing.

This clearing has a path that continues onwards on the other side and a wooden sentry station on the left. Between them and the sentry station was a… a lamp? And a weird one at that. Why was there even a lamp in the middle of the snow? Leaning against the shack/sentry station was Papyrus, grinning at the newly arrived guests. The table of the sentry station had two plates of spaghetti and meatballs, just waiting to be eaten. Alex could hardly wait to eat the pasta, but Sans held onto the collar of Alex's sweater before they could take off. He whispered into Alex's ear _"hey bud, try to go easy on him, k?"_

Alex had no idea what Sans meant by this, but nodded in compliance. Sans released his fingers from the grip on the sweater as Alex ran over to Papyrus and his cooking. Papyrus could only grin as he saw the look of excitement on Alex's face as they prepared to chow down on the pasta. As if waiting for permission, Alex stood there looking at the pasta for a moment before straightening up and looking at Papyrus.

"Hey, Papyrus. Mind if I have some of the spaghetti?"

To which he replies, "OH COURSE ALEX. ENJOY MY DISH. IT'LL KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF FOR SURE!"

The moment Papyrus' final word leaves his… lips… mouth, yeah mouth, Alex puts their first mouthful of spaghetti into their mouth. As it enters their mouth, before Alex tastes it, they notice Sans looking at them, smirking. Why was he doing that? Then the spaghetti touched down on Alex's tongue.

* * *

Sans couldn't help but feel bad for the kid. They went into that ordeal hungry and with little-to-know heads up to the fact that Papyrus' cooking isn't exactly five stars. He snickered a little bit when he saw Alex prepare to put the spaghetti in their mouth. It was too late to stop it, but he hopes that Alex plays it cool for Papyrus' sake. Papyrus just stood there in anticipation, waiting for someone else to complement his cooking. If only he knew the truth, but that would devastate him, and Sans couldn't stand Papyrus feeling sad. Then the moment of truth came and Alex closed their mouth on the pasta. No turning back now.

Right on cue, Sans could see Alex's face visually scrunch up at the taste of the pasta. I mean, sure Papyrus' cooking was getting better, but the fact of the matter is that it's still not quite edible. That being said, he's definitely made some progress since Frisk left.

Speaking of which, he still had to remember to go to his lab when they got to Snowdin to check everything out. Something wasn't right, but Sans was quickly interrupted from his thoughts by Alex and Papyrus. Needless to say, the kid didn't look like he was enjoying his meal. Maybe Sans would bring him to Grillby's once they get into town. Papyrus was practically gleaming with joy at the priceless expression on Alex's face.

"SO HUMAN, ERR ALEX, HOW'S MY SPAGHETTI? I MADE IT ALL BY MYSELF."

Alex looked over to Sans, who showed Alex a thumbs-up in his left hand, hoping the kid got the hint. "Oh, umm." Very audibly, Alex forced themself to swallow the large bit in their mouth. Man, oh man were they going to have a bad time for doing that. Poor kid.

"It was… indescribable. I-I can't even put it into words." Sans could tell they were trying really hard to remain composed.

"WOWIE! SO GOOD YOU CAN'T EVEN PUT IT INTO WORDS? INCREDIBLE? THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS ONCE AGAIN OUTDONE HIMSELF IN THE KITCHEN. NYEH HEH HEH!"

"Y-yeah Papyrus. You're so cool!"

Sans could tell that even though the pasta broke the kid's heart, they'd still fallen for Papyrus' charms. After all, who could say no or be mad at a guy like him. Sans then notices a pleading glance from Alex. Heh, Sans knew what the kid needed, so it was time to distract Papyrus for a moment so that Alex could go 'fix' his stomach. Sans nods in agreement, which causes Alex to then send a grateful look to sans, mouthing out the words 'thank you'. Sans then began to approach the pair.

 _"heya paps, mind if i talk with you for a moment?"_ Sans then shot a look towards Alex, signaling them to go know. Alex nodded gratefully and snuck off further down the path. They turned and left the moment they got to small clearing with the trees. Sans knew they weren't having a good time over there.

"SURE SANS, WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANTED TO TALK ABOUT? THE HUMAN, PERHAPS?"

Sans nodded, _"papyrus, you remember frisk, right? And how they disappeared to the surface?"_

"YEAH, WHAT ABOUT IT? *GASP* DID FRISK FALL DOWN AGAIN?!"

To this, Sans shakes his head, _"no, but the new kid, alex, told me something interesting. they were best friends with frisk, but frisk never returned to their town near the mountain. i think frisk is in trouble."_ Sans could see the look of worry on Papyrus' face from hearing this.

"HMMMM… THEN WE MUST DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO HELP THEM! THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR, RIGHT BROTHER?!"

 _"yeah, bro. completely. i think i know how we can find frisk. we just need to get to our house."_

Papyrus nodded and laughed, "NYEH HEH HEH, OF COURSE I'M RIGHT! BUT WHY OUR HOUSE? WHAT'S THERE OTHER THAN MORE OF MY PASTA AND OUR ROOMS?"

Sans sighed before explaining, _"in our basement is my lab, where i monitor changes to reality among other things. there, i may be able to calculate frisk's location."_ Sans decided to leave out the stuff about timelines for now. He'd explain later at the house with Alex.

"WOWIE, AND HERE I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST A LAZYBONES. I NEVER KNEW YOU WERE THAT INTO SCIENCE… WELL, I TAKE THAT BACK. I DID SEE YOUR QUANTUM PHYSICS BOOK IN THE HOUSE."

 _"great, then let's go get the kid and get to the house."_

The brothers nodded in agreement before walking side by side down the path. After walking several feet, they get to a point in the path that veers off slightly to the left. They then see Alex standing there, waiting for the two brothers to arrive.

* * *

Empty. The one and only word that could be used to describe their stomach right now. Man, they were looking so forward to that spaghetti. It was still warm and smelled perfectly delicious. Then, the pasta touched down, but rather than the smooth landing of an airplane, it was more like a car crash going a hundred miles an hour. The taste had been worse than their experience eating sand, which was caused by losing a bet with Frisk. Ah, those were the days. Alex remembers it like it was yesterday.

Alex and Frisk were at the beach for a day when they decided to pass the time with a bet. They'd made a bet with Frisk that whoever could dig the deepest hole in the sand before the water go in it would get to choose the others punishment. Alex said that if they won, Frisk would have to carry them back to the bus on their back. Frisk, hearing this, made their prize watching Alex eat a small bit of sand.

It sounded pretty funny, so they laughed it off and began digging. They dug there, side-by-side for two hours before the tide began to come in and flood the holes. In order to determine the winner, they both got down and stood in their respective holes since they were both the same height. Low and behold, Alex's was slightly shallower, giving the win to Frisk.

They climbed out and gathered up their belongings since it was time to go, but Alex felt bad that they had lost and not given Frisk their prize. Even though Frisk told Alex it was just a joke, Alex couldn't help but feel like they lied, so they quickly shoved a handful of sand in their mouth. Alex's eyes began to water as their tongue dried out from the sand.

Frisk reacted quickly by knelling beside Alex, patting them on the back and saying "Ok Alex, good job. Spit it out, you only had to taste it really quickly. C'mon." Alex spit it out and tears began to flow down their cheeks. Frisk put their arms around Alex and began to comfort him. They sat there for a moment as they apologized to each other. Though the sand tasted bad, Frisk was really nice and comforting. They were best friends after all.

Alex was then back in the present. They finished kicking snow over the spot in which they vomited so that no one would see it, especially Papyrus. Alex didn't want to break his heart. Then, looking to their side, Alex saw another golden star. That's good, it'll finish healing them from the fight back there and maybe even quiet down their hunger. Alex reached out and touched it with there right hand, which caused another voice and message, like before, to pop up in their head.

 ***The Pleasant Memory of Sand and Friendship fills you with Purity.**

 ***Your HP was Fully Restored.**

Just as quickly as they heard the voice, it disappeared, taking the pain, scrapes, and bruises with it. Alex was very grateful for these stars. If not for them, they'd be much worse off.

They continue down the path a little bit before reaching a crossroads the could allow further movement to their right or to their left. Unable to choose, they decided to turn around and face down the path they came from. Eagerly waiting for the two skeletons to meet back up with them. Right on cue, they come around the corner and see Alex.

"GREETINGS AGAIN HUMAN. READY TO CONTINUE ONWARDS?"

"Yeah Papyrus, thanks. Where are we going?"

"WELL, WE'RE HEADING TOWARDS SNOWDIN TOWN. THERE, WE WILL GO TO OUR HOUSE. SANS SAYS HE HAS STUFF THERE THAT COULD HELP US FIND OUR MUTUAL FRIEND FRISK!"

Music to Alex's ears. They really wanted to find Frisk. Now, they were closer to finding Frisk than they were the last six months. "Alright, lets continue onwards." The three of them basically line up side-by-side with Alex in the middle, Sans on the right, and Papyrus on the left. They walked together down the path to the right and shortly came across another sentry station on their left. It was made of cardboard, and when Alex pointed at it curiously, Sans spoke.

 _"oh, that's papyrus' sentry station."_

"YES, IT WAS… UNTIL I GOT PROMOTED THAT IS!"

"Really, you got promoted? Congrats."

"THANKS ALEX, I'M NOW THE HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD!" Papyrus made a cool pose.

 _"yeah, well the royal guard disbanded, so he's the only member."_

"SANS! C'MON BROTHER, GIVE ME SOME CREDIT, WOULD YOU?"

 _"sorry bro, i didn't mean it like that. you know what bro, why don't you try recruiting others back to the guard?"_

"*GASP* BRILLIANT IDEA SANS! THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'LL DO."

They then continued further on down the path to find yet another sentry station on their left. They passed by a sign that said 'absolutely no moving.' But the three of them walked by it without hassle. No one was at the sentry station, so they left it alone, but not before Alex noticed something that looked like burned dog biscuits. Weird. Anyways, they continued onward through the snow.

In front of them now, in this new clearing, was a large sheet of ice on the ground. Alex, having had prior experience ice skating, slid across the ice with ease to the other side, with not as much as a wobble. Upon turning around, they could see the look of astonishment on both of the brothers' faces. Alex couldn't help but giggle at their disbelief. Next up was Sans, who had a different approach. He walked toward the ice and jumped onto it, landing firmly on both slippers to the ice. He slowly slid across without moving his feet. Seems like being lazy is a non-stop trait of his, hahaha.

Now Papyrus was preparing to go on. He stepped out onto the ice and began walking slowly, but Alex could tell he was on the verge of slipping, so they ran and slid back out to him. Alex grabbed Papyrus' left hand told him to follow their lead. Together, they slid across the ice to the other side without falling. Relieved and thankful, Papyrus scooped up Alex and brought them into a large, strong hug.

"THANK YOU ALEX. YOU'RE THE SECOND COOLEST PERSON I KNOW. SECOND ONLY TO THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Alex nodded and giggled at the skeleton's joy, covering their mouth with their right hand. Together, they walked onwards until another clearing with a large square in the center of it. The two skeletons stopped for a moment, which confused Alex. As they walked forwards, they only heard Papyrus begin talking when he was cut off, "WAIT A MOMENT ALE- AHHHHHHHH"

Papyrus was cut off from the sound of electricity. Alex ran quickly across, once reaching the other side, they heard the sound of electricity stop. Upon turning around, they say Papyrus laying on the snow, groaning.

"Papyrus, are you ok? I'm coming back!"

"NO… WAIT… WAIT A MOMENT ALEX…"

 _"paps, did you forget to leave the orb home and to turn off the electricity maze?"_

"UN-UNFORTUNATLY. THE GREAT PAPYRUS. IS ONLY GREAT. NOT. PERFECT." It was quite clear that Papyrus was out of breath.

 _"ohm man, i bet that hertz. it was probably quite shocking."_ In the distance, a rimshot could be heard. Alex had no idea where it came from or why, but its timing was impeccable. Alex decided to make a electric pun as well.

"I, for one, don't think he looks ex-static from that electrifying experience."

"I. HATE. YOU BOTH. SANS. WHY. MUST YOU. CORRUPT. THE YOUTH."

Both Alex and Sans laugh for a moment, pointing at each other as if congratulating one another for the well delivered puns. _"sorry bro. here, let me help ya."_ Sans grabbed an orb out from on of Papyrus' pockets and threw it into the trees behind them. Sans held out and hand, which Papyrus took, and helped him to his feet. Now, back on his feet, Papyrus look like he's full of energy.

"ONWARDS!" And with that the skeletons crossed the clearing without further shocks and continued on with Alex between them once more.

After reaching this next large clearing, Alex noticed what looked like a game involving pushing a snowball into a hole. They walked past this without much thought, since they were now determined to get to town. This time spent with the skeletons was priceless and awesome. Alex loved this so much. Eventually, after walking for a few minutes, they reach a set of tables and a note.

The first table has some old spaghetti that looks almost freezer burnt. The second table had an unplugged microwave. Papyrus looked sad that his masterpiece was now truly inedible. Turning slightly to their right, across from the spaghetti was another golden star. Feeling full of health, Alex decided to leave it be as they left the clearing and went on to the next one.

Upon walking through this next large clearing, they walked across a bridge and continued until they reached what looked like a puzzle. There were large clumps of slippery frozen snow around two X's. Nearby was a large pressure plate-like button. Upon reaching this, Papyrus spoke up.

"HUMAN, I WANTED TO SEE IF YOU ENJOYED PUZZLES, SO I REACTIVATED THIS SIMPLE ONE TO TEST YOU. YOU DO NOT MIND, RIGHT?"

Alex nodded, "I love puzzles, so I'll give this one a try." Papyrus' face was gleaming with excitement. Sans simply stood there. It almost looked like Sans was sleeping standing up. Alex got to work and stepped upon both blue X's for a moment before they changed to red O's Alex then proceeded to step upon the button, which turned the O's green and made Papyrus speak up. "

NICE JOB ALEX. PUZZLE LOVERS SUCH AS US SURELY ENJOY THE CHALLENGE OF THESE, LET'S GO ON." As they prepared to leave to the next room, Alex grabbed San's right hand and began to pull him forward, jolting him awake. He saw that Alex was doing this to keep his small nap a secret, and thanked Alex.

 _"hehe, thanks kiddo. i owe ya one."_

The next clearing had another puzzle like the previous one, but was much harder. Confident in their abilities, Alex told Papyrus and Sans to wait and let them solve it. After a minute or two, they solved this one with ease as well. Papyrus was impressed and Sans was happy for him. Onwards was a set of squares with varying shads of grey. Papyrus didn't look happy seeing this, so they left it alone and continued onwards.

This next clearing had another sentry stations and countless snow sculptures of a dog with a really, really long neck. Cute doggie. Alex really wanted to find whatever dog this was based off of. Alex never could control themselves around dogs. This place also had a golden star, but Alex left it alone too.

After leaving the dogs made of snow and the star, the three of them once again encountered another puzzle with X's. This time, they were surrounded by ice which would make the puzzle that much harder to solve.

"SORRY ABOUT ALL OF THESE. I GOT CARRIED AWAY AND REACTIVATED THE THREE OF THESE."

"No need to apologize Papyrus. It's fine, I'm having fun."

 _"yeah, these cool puzzles are quite ice."_

"ALEX, THANK YOU. SANS, BE QUIET."

 _"heh heh."_

Alex spent a moment studying the layout of the X's before sliding carefully from one X to another. One by one, the X's became O's and the button was pressed, solving the puzzle. Papyrus was about ready to burst with joy. This human truly loved puzzles just like him. After now crossing a stone bridge, the three of them walked through yet another clearing with sentry station. No, wait… that's a doghouse, not a sentry station. All around the doghouse were these weird snow poff things. Alex ran over to the doghouse, crossing their fingers that a dog was inside. Moment of truth… and their hopes and dreams were let down.

 _"hey kiddo, you looking for the dogs?"_

Alex nodded and bowed their head slightly in disappointment. Knowing there may be dogs nearby made them yearn to pet them, but Alex tried to hold in their excessive and exaggerated disappointment.

 _"heh, don't look so sad alex. they're up ahead in town."_

Alex lifted their head and smiled. Yes! The dogs were close by. Alex began to pick up their pace, leaving the skeleton brothers behind as they race to catch up. They crossed this final bridge in no time, and continued through a final clearing. Up header was a large sign held in place by two wooden poles. It was decorated in red and green Christmas lights, making Alex wonder how they knew about Christmas.

The sign said 'Welcome to" in red, and below that in blue was the word "Snowdin". Alex was excited, they finally made it to a cozy and cool looking town. With a smile on their face, they walked forward as Sans and Papyrus raced to catch up to their new friend.


	7. The Plan in Snowdin

The town looked lovely. Alex, now with Sans and Papyrus back by their side after catching up to their fast new friend, began walking into town before noticing a shop and Inn right next door to each other to the left. In between the two building, slightly in front of them, was a box and another golden star. This time, they decided they might as well touch it. The cold around them had begun to seep into their clothing and being.

If not for their sweater, the cold might have given Alex frostbite or hypothermia. Thank god they were in Scouting. Thanks to that, they knew a thing or two about the outdoors. They reached out a hand to touch the star as Papyrus had an expression of confusion on his face. He'd never seen the human reach out their hand for no reason before. It seems no one else could see these, maybe? Their hand finally made contact with the warm star.

 ***The Cute Town of Snowdin and the Thought of Finding Dogs Fills You With Purity**

 ***HP Fully Restored**

A feeling of warmth washes over Alex as the final words echoed through their head. They were ready to go and do anything. Alex looked back at the shop behind them for a moment. Unfortunately, Alex left their wallet at home, and they doubted their currency would work down here. Maybe later they could come back and check out the store. Filled with Purity, as the voice put it, Alex continued onward with the skeletons as they walked through town. There were more monsters all around them. Some looked like rabbits, some looked like bears, and there was even a young monster that looked kinda like a dinosaur without arms. How cool.

In this little center of town where they currently was, there was a… a Christmas tree? It looked absolutely stunning. The red and green lights on the wire snaked its way up the tree in circles, leaving not a single branch of the tree un-illuminated. The snow on the tree perfectly complemented the red and green lights, covering some of the pine needles and branches, but not too many of them.

All around the lights, wherever there seemed to be an opening in the tree without lights were golden ornaments. A bright yellow, five stared star topped the luxurious tree. Below said tree were several presents, scattered around under the tree just enough to be out of the way, yet were visible enough to be seen. Each present was rapped in a different set of pretty colors. If Alex had a mirror, they would see that their pupils were almost shining at nearly double their normal size. Papyrus and Sans easily took notice of the kids infatuation with the tree.

"ALEX, DO YOU LIKE THE TOWN'S CHRISTMAS TREE?"

Alex stood there a moment before the words finally registered. They pried their eyes away to look at the grinning brothers. "Y-yeah. I love it! Christmas is my favorite holiday!"

Papyrus' grin grew even bigger. "MINE TOO! THE DECORATIONS ARE AMAZING AND SANTA BRINGS US ALL PRESENTS AND HAPPINESS!"

Alex's pupils dilated. "Santa… You have Santa down here too! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! That's awesome!" Alex couldn't help but get really excited. They began almost running in place. Sans' smile grew as well. This kid was pretty cool.

 _"oh course. santa brings gifts to all the good kids. right papyrus?"_

"OH MOST DEFINITLY. IN FACT, THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ONE OF THE GOODEST KIDS! NYEH HEH HEH!" Now Papyrus began to get really excited.

"Me too. I'm a good kid!"

 _"calm down you two. you're both good kids. now let's keep going."_

"By the way, how do you know about Christmas down here, if you don't mind me asking?"

Sans and Papyrus then proceeded to tell the story of the bullied monster named Gyftrot, who had these Christmas lights and decorations forced upon their antlers. Everyone gave them presents to cheer them up... Plus there were many decoration and such things that fell down from the surface. The story warmed Alex's heart as they continued through town.

Alex and Papyrus begin to calm down from all of the talk about Christmas, which was still about a month away. They stop hopping around and running in place to begin walking further into town at a more reasonable pace. They walk by what appears to be a restaurant with a big sign on top that reads 'GRILLBY'S'. They walk by a few more monsters that wave to the trio as they continue walking past a library. Or, at least, Alex thinks it's a library. The only issue is that its name is misspelled as 'Librarby'.

They continue slightly further and come to two mailboxes, one of which is overflowing. Right next to these is a large, two story house made of wood. There are more red and green Christmas lights lining the rood and the left pole next to the door. There is also a wreath hanging on the front door.

"WELCOME, ALEX, TO OUR HUMBLE HOUSE."

"Wow, you two have a nice house."

 _"thanks, it is quite homey."_

"GRRR, YOU ARE RUINING THE MOMENT FOR ALEX, SANS."

"No, it's alright."

"WELL, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE INSIDE?!"

"Sure. That'd be nice."

Papyrus then opens the door and holds it open for Alex as they walk inside. The color scheme of the interior of the house is a combonation of orange and blue, like the skeleton brothers' clothing. Upon entering, Alex drinks in and absorbs the scenery of the inside of the house. A green sofa to their left, and right is a table with a rock on a plate surrounded and covered in sprinkles. That's kinda odd, but who was Alex to judge.

In front of the green sofa was a large flat-screen TV. To the side of the TV was what looked like a sock with several sticky notes attached to it. Straight ahead was the kitchen, and up the stairs were two doors that likely led to the bedrooms of the two brothers. Alex only has a single word to respond with.

"Wow."

"INDEED. TAKE A SEAT ALEX."

Alex then moves towards the couch and flops down onto it. It, it actually kinda hurt. There was some sort of coins in the sofa. Alex reached in and found twenty golden coins. Papyrus noticed this, "NOT TO WORRY ALEX, THAT IS SIMPLY LOOSE CHANGE. YOU MAY HAVE IT IF YOU WANT."

Alex smiles and nods. "Thanks, Papyrus. You're so nice." To this statement, Papyrus blushes slightly. As this was all happening, Sans climbed the stairs and entered the far door with some sort of rainbow flames being emitted under the door. Papyrus then moves toward the couch and sit beside Alex.

"SO ALEX, WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THE UNDERGROUND?"

"Well, I was looking for Frisk. They'd been gone a long time, and I was worried."

"WOWIE, SO WERE YOU LIKE THEIR BEST FRIEND ON THE SURFACE?"

"Yeah. We were the bestest of friends. I miss them…" Tears began to form in Alex's eyes, which caused Papyrus to respond.

Papyrus grabs Alex and holds them tightly in a friendly embrace in the form of a hug. "DON'T WORRY ALEX. WE'LL FIND FRISK TOGETHER AND HELP THEM. I PROMISE."

Thanks to Papyrus' embrace and kind words, Alex fought back the tears and not a single one was shed. "Thank you Papyrus. You, you're pretty cool. You're the greatest!"

 _"*clears throat* hey guys, you ready to go downstairs?"_ The two look forward and see Sans standing there holding a silver key.

"Oh um, yeah. Ok."

 _"relax kiddo. i'm gonna try to explain everything in a moment. let's just go, ok."_

"Alright, ready Papyrus?"

"OF COURSE I AM. THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS READY FOR ANYTHING! NYEH HEH HEH!"

The two of them stand up and get off the couch and follow Sans out the door back into the cold awaiting them outside. The turn right and snake around the house to the back when they reach a door. Sans puts his silver key into the keyhole of the door and it clicks open.

They all then proceed to enter the basement. The basement looks simple enough, with a purple tiled floor and plain light blue paint on the walls. There are what appear to be blueprints on a counter, with four drawers below them. On the far side of this room is some sort of massive machine covered in a large purple sheet. San turns to the right and flips a hidden switch that opens up a hole in the wall behind the counter away from the blueprints.

A series of three monitors and a keyboard come out of the wall. The monitors boot up and show many numbers, charts, and figures that probably mean something to someone with a degree in quantum physics. Sans then pulls three chairs out of another hole that opened up on the other wall for the three of them to sit in. Papyrus looks amazed and dumbfounded. Bet he didn't know about all of this stuff under their house.

"SANS… WHAT IS ALL OF THIS?"

 _"bro, i meant to show you this earlier, but i never did. i'm sorry…"_

"IT'S OK SANS. AT LEAST YOU ARE SHOWING US NOW."

 _"yeah, thanks papyrus. you're so forgiving! anyway, give me a moment while i check the readings. then, i'll explain all of this."_

Sans then turns around and faces the monitors while his fingers dance around the keyboard at an astonishing rate. He inputs numbers and equations. He changes variables here, and erases others there. Suddenly, a quickly as he started, he stops typing and we all look at the center monitor to see a new chart appears on the screen. It contains hundreds of numbers all over the place, but to Alex and Papyrus, the numbers mean almost nothing. Suddenly, the numbers seemed to glitch out and the figure on the screen was changed dramatically. All of a sudden, Sans exhales loudly with a sigh.

 _"this is what i was afraid of…"_

"What is it Sans?"

"YEAH, WHAT DID YOU FIND ABOUT FRISK?"

 _"well, it appears that they were removed from the timeline."_

"*GASP* OH NO! …WAIT… I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT THAT'S BAD, RIGHT?!"

 _"think of the world like a river. the river flowing is time and we're all in it, including frisk. suddenly, someone comes in and pulls frisk onto shore, leaving us behind and going forward without frisk."_

"SO, FRISK WAS TAKEN FROM US AS WE CONTINUE ON WITHOUT THEM?"

 _"yes. you've got it so far. anyway, imagine if whoever did this now has frisk and the souls that went missing from the castle. using frisk and the souls, this person could now stop the river, reverse it, or even wipe the river from existence."_

"Wait, so whoever has Frisk could destroy everything or do almost anything now?"

 _"yes, but something is limiting this person's reach. based on my calculations, it's quite possible that frisk is resisting, or that someone else is countering their power. maybe both. but there is some good news."_

"WHAT'S THE GOOD NEWS?! DO YOU KNOW A WAY TO BRING BACK FRISK TO THE RIVER?"

 _"that was an analogy, paps, but yes. and i know who took them. they were taken out of the timeline and into the void with a man named gaster."_

"GASTER? WHO'S THAT? WHY DOES HE SOUND SO FAMILIAR?"

 _"he was the royal scientist before alphys. i can't remember much about him except that he fell into the core and was almost completely removed from the timeline. gaster has taken frisk to a void-like place where we can't reach them."_

"So, if we can't reach Frisk, then how can we save them?"

 _"easy, with this thing."_ Sans then hops off his chair and pulls the purple sheet off of the large machine in the corner. It seems damaged beyond repair, so how could this help them?

 _"this device, although currently broken, can be repaired and used to pull frisk back into the timeline. this would be simple enough, given time, but we now have a problem."_

"What's the problem if we now have a solution?"

 _"you saw the screen rapidly change a moment ago, right?"_ To that, Sans receives a nod from both Alex and his brother.

 _"that was gaster, seeing exactly what we are up to. in response to our progress, he's begun to try to not only quicken his drainage of power from frisk, but will likely try to impede and prevent us from doing this, so we must act fast."_

Hearing this, Papyrus jumped to his feet. "WHAT DO YOU NEED FROM ME BROTHER?" Sans was relieved to hear that they were both believing him and willing to listen.

 _"alright, i'm going to go over some more stuff with alex, since they should be able to resist gaster's power. papyrus, i'll need you to go to the store and get some items for alex and us. i have a feeling that things aren't going to go our way pretty shortly."_

"ALRIGHT BROTHER. BE SAFE. I'LL MEET YOU BACK UPSTAIRS WHEN I HAVE THE SUPPLIES!"

Papyrus then immediately ran out the door, probably to the shop they saw earlier. Now alone with Sans, Alex felt curious. Why were they able to avoid and resist Gaster's power and abilities? Sans, seemingly reading the kids thoughts, began to speak.

 _"listen kid, you want to know why we're gonna need your help?"_ To that, Alex nodded.

 _"alright, your soul, you noticed that it was silver, right?"_ Sans received another nod.

 _"souls can come in a variety of colors, each color meaning a different trait. red means determination, orange is bravery, yellow is justice, green is kindness, light blue is patience, blue is integrity, purple means perseverance, and white are monster souls. you are unique with a silver soul, which is incredibly rare. alphys would know more about it, but i do know that it means purity. my hypothesis is that purity souls can take on any of the other traits as long as they are exposed to enough of it."_

Alex began to think to themselves for a moment. Back when they found the stars that healed them, it originally said they were filled with Purity, but it then said things like 'Pure Determination' or "Pure Justice and Patience". Was this from exposure to the other traits like Sans said? Didn't Sans' eye glow light blue and yellow, matching the traits that were mentioned? Now some things were beginning to make sense, but now Alex was feeling the formation of a headache. Sans noticed this and spoke up.

 _"i know, i know. it's a lot to take in. you still hungry?"_ Sans quickly receives a nod from Alex.

 _"ok, follow me, i know a place."_ Sans then takes the kid's hand and off they go out the door and into the snow. They whizz through town before swiftly arriving outside of the building marked 'GRILLBY'S'. Sans' left hand goes to open the door and holds it open as Alex steps inside the warm pub.

To Alex's right were two booths of tables with a bunny sitting in the closest one and some sort of monster with a ton of teeth in the further one. Beyond the booths and the right side was a broken jukebox. Straight in front of the pair was a bar with two duck-like monsters and two open bar stools. Leaning by the bar near the jukebox was a horse monster. A monster made completely out of fire in a nice black and white suit with glasses stood behind the counter cleaning a glass. Behind him was a large shelf with bottles of each shape and size on it.

In the far left corner of the bar was a dog playing cards by himself. Wait… a dog… And that not all. A table near the front also contained four different dogs sitting there playing what appeared to be poker. Alex had to fight his entire body and soul in order to not reach out and pet any of the dogs. Sans could see Alex's internal struggle. Sans then their right hand on Alex's back as he led them to the two empty seats at the bar.

Sans exchanges greetings with many of the other patrons of the bar as they walk to the stools. Alex then hops up onto the right stool and sit down when they suddenly hear the unmistakable noise of another whoopee cushion underneath them. " _careful, some weirdo likes to put whoopee cushions on the seats here."_ Alex lets out a quick but genuine laugh.

" _so kid, what do you want to eat? burger or fries?"_

No doubt comes across the hungry mind of Alex as they answer with "A burger, please."

 _"hehe, alright. that sounds pretty good to me too. grillby, two orders of burg please."_

The fire elemental monster, or Grillby, nods and walks out a door behind him in the corner of the room. Presumably to prepare and bring out the food. Alex could hardly wait to enjoy a burger. Sans then continues to talk.

 _"so, while we're waiting for the food, why don't i explain the plan? Sounds good?"_ Alex nods in agreement. They are finally ready to learn how they can free their best friend from whomever this 'Gaster' was.

 _"ok, you saw that the machine is in bad shape, but i can fix it. unfortunately, fixing it is pointless since it'll just break again. however, i know how to make it work this time. i'll need you to collect a few thing while i work on repairing it, ok? follow me so far?"_

"Yes sir. I read you loud and clear!"

 _"hehe, good. papyrus will help take you to waterfall to obtain something that recently resurfaced over there called the 'legendary artifact'. temmie village is where you'll need to go. then, at alphy's lab should be several syringes of something called 'determination'. after that, you'll need to make your way to the core to get me some data and readings. finally, you'll need a soul capsule from the castle in new home. with all of that, return to my lab and by then the machine should be ready."_

"Wait, if all you needed was that stuff, and you already knew about Gaster, then why wait until now to try to fix all of this?"

 _"good point. i almost forgot to mention. your soul, the soul of purity. it is one of the most powerful traits, even able to match or even exceed determination in some ways. that power will need to be tapped to help maintain the machine while it tries to rescue frisk. i never had access to something like that before."_

"Oh… Um… do-do you know Gaster personally?"

 _"honestly, kid? i'm not sure. i think so, and i think the machine was originally designed to try to rescue him, but i can't quite remember. when he fell into the core, many of my memories were corrupted, while nearly everyone else's were erased entirely."_ Sans looked viably uncomfortable talking about Gaster, which made Alex feel bad for asking.

"I-I'm sorry for pressing you about that."

 _"don't worry about it kid. it's fine."_

As if right on cue, Grillby stepped back into the pub with two plates of burgers and two bottles of ketchup. He set one down beside each of them.

" _great timing grillby, thanks."_

They prepare to chow down on their burgers. Alex takes a big bite and their eyes seemingly sparkle with glee. The taste of the burger was indescribable, but not in a bad way. Not like how the spaghetti. Gosh, just thinking of that pasta sent shivers down Alex's spine.

But even these thoughts could not sully the immaculate feeling that spread across Alex's taste buds. Every bite was better than the last. As Alex continued to eat this gourmet cuisine, they looked over towards Sans and saw him drinking the ketchup bottle he was given. Dang, how could he stomach that? Wait, maybe this kind of food is magical down here and tastes differently.

Thinking back to eating the chocolate during their previous battle, Alex recalled it healing them. Just in case for later, Alex grabbed their bottle of ketchup and put it in their pocket as they finished the amazing meal.

Sans looks over, and boy did he look surprised. One minute there's a burger and ketchup by Alex, and then next they're all gone, including the bottle. Hardcore. Sans spoke up after Alex seemed to have calmed down from the meal,

 _"so kid, how was the burg?"_

Alex's eyes shined brightly, almost literally. "Immaculate! Thanks Grillby!"

Grillby simply tilted his head slightly and raised a single thumbs up before returning to devoting all of his attention to cleaning the glass in his hands. After the meal was complete, they both got up and prepared to leave, but Alex couldn't help themselves. Alex slowly crept up behind one of the dogs that had a ninja-like mask on his head and a dog biscuit hanging out of his mouth.

This looked like the ones seen before, near the sign that said 'absolutly no moving'. Based on this, Alex figured if they moved slowly, they could sneak up on him. Alex heard Sans say " _thanks grillby, put it on my tab."._ Crap, Alex was running out of time. Now, right behind the dog, Alex only had one single word pop up in their head commanding them to do what they already were abort to. Pet.

Alex laid their right hand upon the head of this dog, who immediately began yelling in a super hyper happy state "Pet?" "Pat?" "Pat" "Pot?" "Pet?" "Pet?".

Alex fell back and laughed at the sight before them. They finally got to pet a doggie, and their reward was to see him become overly happy. Sans turned around and saw Alex behind Doggo, who was freaking out due to being pet. The other dog sentries looked at Doggo with confusion, but their unsung questions were quickly answered when Sans walked over and picked up a human, Alex, and carried them outside.

Once outside, Sans attempted the scold Alex, but couldn't hold a straight face because honestly, that was pretty funny. They then walk back into Sans' and Papyrus' house and wait in the living room for Papyrus to return any moment now with some items.

Sans handed Alex a piece of paper that lists everything they needed to grab and a weird device to capture the necessary readings at the core. When asked why Sans couldn't call anyone up to have them bring items to them, he responded with: " _remember when the charts and numbers changed back downstairs? after that, i think gaster took out the cell service once he realized our plan. i tried to call alphys about more info on your soul, but it couldn't connect. and with my shortcuts out of commission, it only leaves us with the old fashioned way."_ Alex looked down at the list in their hands.

 _things to_ _buy/_ _get:_

· _A dozen eggs_ *[this was now crossed out] _  
_

· ** _Legendary Artifact_** _( Temmie Village) {Talk to Temmie(s)}_

· **_Determination Vial_** _( Alphys' Lab) {Talk to Alphys}_

· **_Core Readings_** _( Core) {Use Photon Scanner}_

· **_SOUL Canister_** _( New Home) {Talk to Queen Toriel}_

"Sans…"

 _"yeah pal?"_

"I can't believe you wrote my list on an old shopping list." Alex couldn't help the smile that came to their face.

" _so? what of it?"_

"Haha, thanks Sans. I appreciate the humor."

 _"no problem alex. pap should be here any minute now."_

Papyrus then kicked the door open and walked in. "GREETINGS ALEX AND SANS. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE RETURNED WITH ITEMS!" Papyrus walked up to the two of them on the couch and handed Alex a snack called a 'bisicle' and another snack called a 'Cinnamon Bunny', which they then placed into their pocket. Sans received the same gifts, which he put in his coat pockets. Papyrus then went into the kitchen and placed down the rest of the food in there before quickly returning to the living room.

"SO, WHAT'S THE PLAN NOW ALEX AND SANS?"

 _"well, the plan is for you to escort alex, here, to waterfall. you guys can meet up with undyne over there and head to temmie village to collect the first thing we need."_

"BRILLIANT IDEA SANS! UNDYNE WOULD LOVE TO MEET ALEX. WHAT ABOUT YOU, THOUGH?"

 _"i'm gonna stay behind and work on the machine. have fun you two."_

"ARE YOU SURE, SANS?"

" _yeah, i'm sure bro. i'll be fine!"_

"*SIGH* ALRIGHT ALEX. ARE YOU READY TO LEAVE?!"

"I guess so." Alex then stood up off the sofa and faced Sans. "I'll see you later Sans. Tibia honest, I'll miss you, numbskull."

 _"kid, that's pretty humerus. a real rib tickler. keep that funny bone with ya and you'll be just fine."_ They both snicker at their puns, while Papyrus looks at them.

"REALLY SANS? WHY MUST YOU CORRUPT MY NEW BEST FRIEND?!"

"Ahh, am I really your new best friend?!"

"OF COURSE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS COULD NEVER STOOP SO LOW AS TO LIE!"

" _you're right about that bro. be careful you two."_

"Thanks Sans. See ya later."

And then the two of them leave Sans alone in the house as the head right towards the Christmas tree from earlier. They pass the librarby and walk to a fork in the road. In front of them was Grillby's and to their right was another path. Alex could see a small crowd of patrons from the pub outside of Grillby's. He must have closed up early or something. Alex then speaks up, "Hey Papyrus, why are we heading this way. They way Sans was talking, it sounded like Waterfall was in the other direction."

"OH YEAH. WELL, IT USED TO, BUT ABOUT A MONTH AGO AN EARTHQUAKE OCCURRED. IT CLOSED THE ENTRANCE TO WATERFALL RIGHT NEXT TO THE HOUSE AND IT DESTROYED THE BOAT PIER IN HOTLANDS. IT'S DEFINITLY MADE IT HARDER TO NAVIAGATE, BUT THE PIER IS ALMOST REPAIRED."

Now that Alex thought about it, they did remember an earthquake about a month ago. It was quite powerful and scary, so it makes sense that it would have effects underground. They turned right and went down that path. It suddenly became very foggy, but the fog looked almost like steam.

"NOT TO WORRY HUMAN, THE BOAT AND RIVER ARE UP AHEAD. ALMOST THERE." Before the pair took another step, Alex noticed a new gold star appeared beside to be used. Alex instinctively held their hand out and touched it.

 ***The Steam Filled Air and Unnatural Heat is Intense. But you're filled with Purity.**

 ***HP Fully Restored**

* * *

Darkness. Pure darkness. The pure darkness and nothingness of the void is all around Gaster. They look forward through their window into reality. Why must his sons interfere like this? Why didn't they understand the necessity of his actions? If only they understood why he was doing this, but he had not the time nor energy to devote to doing such things.

He had to focus. His goal remains the same. Once he completely drains the determination out of Frisk, his plan would be nearly complete. Any and all energy he devotes to stopping his children and Alex was energy he could be using to finish what he needed. Unfortunately, he could no longer stand by and let things play out.

Chara proved to be too free-willed and uncontrollable. This time, he'd have to use his own energy to seize control of a monster. This was not something he wanted to do. Deep down, he wanted them all to stop doing this and end this peacefully and non-violently, but now that seemed beyond possible. Suddenly, whimpering could be heard behind Gaster. He spun around and looked at its source. Frisk.

Frisk was still in the same position they are always in. Their arms are held above their head in shackles made of nothingness and darkness. Now, however, Frisk was knelling rather than standing, but their head was still bowed, hiding their eyes. Even hidden, however, Gaster did not need to see Frisk's eyes to know what they were doing. Now, a constant stream of tears began to flow down their face and onto the 'ground' beneath them.

This didn't change anything, but Gaster couldn't help but feel bad for Frisk. Even so, he knew his mission was far more important than the emotions of a child. After all, if Frisk were in the same position, they would obviously do what he was doing right now. Gaster began to turn back around and focus on their window into reality when Frisk began to speak.

"Why…"

 ** _"WHY WHAT, CHILD?"_**

"Why are you doing all of this? Why are you hurting me? Why are you hurting your own children? Why… Wh-why are you hu-hurting Alex?"

 ** _"YOU IGNORANT CHILD. I'M DOING THIS TO SAVE YOU. TO SAVE THEM. TO SAVE EVERYONE."_**

"*sniffle* That… that doesn't make any sense."

 ** _"ENOUGH. I TIRE OF THIS POINTLESS CONVERSATION. HAVE YOU NOT HEARD THAT THERE CAN NOT BE VICTORY WITHOUT SACRIFICE? I CHOOSE TO ACT NOW AND CHOOSE THE SACRIFICE RATHER THAN SIT BY IDLEY AND LET FATE CHOOSE FOR ME. YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL!"_**

With that final word, Frisk became quiet and began to try to cease their crying. Sigh, why couldn't they just understand? Gaster then turned back around to focus on the task at hand. Alex's soul is the strongest he's ever seen, stronger than they know. If only they could bring Alex here, then everything would go much quicker and smoother, but alas, something is preventing me.

Is it the power of their soul that prevents this? Shaking that thought out of their head, Gaster devotes all of his attention to the window and focuses. His eyes shine green and purple as the takes control of a monster who has a lot more power than people think. It's time to stop Alex before Gaster had to use more…

extreme measures.


	8. Grillby's Pale Flames

In front of Papyrus and Alex stood the fire elemental known as Grillby. Likely the source of the unnatural heat and steam-like fog, Grillby stood imposingly just a few feet ahead. Yet, this wasn't the same Grillby that gave Alex food earlier. Right now, the Grillby standing ahead was a sickly grey color rather than his vibrant orange/yellow self. Grillby didn't seem like himself, and Papyrus noticed this issue as well, since they began to appear tense.

Suddenly, the world blinked and flashed for only a few brief moments before the world sunk into the black and white state that exists during battle. Alex's shiny silver soul emerged from them and floated a few inches in front of them. The silver of the soul shined brightly, as if seeing this odd form of the monster Gaster was causing it to be agitated. Papyrus recovered from his shock and made his stance firmer in preparation for battle. It was time, to fight Grillby!

* * *

 _[cue Megalovania Reversed Remix] {or whatever floats your goat…}_

 ** _*Grillby stands firmly before you. The snow evaporates around you._**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]  
*CHECK TALK ORDER CRY**

 ***Grillby - ATK 45 DEF 45**

 ***Would offer you some water, but he doesn't touch the stuff… and you're fighting**

*Grillby's glasses, and whatever eyes lie beneath lock onto. He breathes not a word.

Suddenly, the box forms around your soul as the flames in Grillby's hands grow brighter. His left hand's flame glowed orange as the right glowed light blue. Suddenly, you hear a yell from beside you.

"HUMAN, LISTEN QUICKLY! DON'T MOVE ON BLUE, BUT YOU MUST MOVE ON ORANGE!"

As soon as Papyrus finished his sentence, the fireballs began assaulting the box. First a large blue fireball engulfed the box, but you heeded the wise words of Papyrus and remained still, causing no damage to your soul. Next was orange, during which you move around in circles, once again avoiding damage. It seems this first attack was just a warm-up.

*Grillby seems restless. Seems he misses cleaning his glasses.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK *TALK ORDER CRY**

 ***You ask Grillby if he wants to fight, or if he'd rather talk things out.**

*He neither nods nor shakes his head.

Suddenly, the box containing your soul reappears. Grillby's hands once again begin to grow brighter, but this time contain whitish-grey flames. This was gonna hurt. Papyrus suddenly steps forwards and summons blue bones between you and Grillby. The flames come at you, but are mostly stopped by the bones, which surprised Grillby. The rest of the flames hit the box, making the edges and sides of the box go from harmless to aflame. Touching the sides of the battle box would now surly result in damage.

*The battle box is aflame. Grillby seems to enjoy the spread of his flames.

"WORRY NOT ALEX, TOGETHER WE SHALL STOP GRILLBY FROM THIS MADNESS. I'M SURE WE CAN STILL MAKE HIM UNDERSTAND. TOGETHER!"

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK *ORDER CRY**

 ***You ask Grillby for an order of Fries since his burger was so good.**

*He seems to want to do so, but is unable to do so.

Back to the box, which is still aflame. A sudden gleam appears behind Grillby's glasses. Seems he found a way to prevent Papyrus from fully intruding on the battle. Grillby holds both arms out horizontally as jets of pure white flames come jetting out of nowhere to the sides of you. Papyrus summons several skull-looking creatures that produce beams of energy. He uses these to prevent the walls of flames from reaching you, so now Grillby begins his true attack. Grillby's right hand grew exceptionally bright as it rapidly flashed between orange and blue. Suddenly, in that order, Grillby threw large balls of fire at you of the two colors. Caught off guard, the third and fifth fireballs hit you, scorching your soul and reducing your health.

 ***HP 12/20**

*The battle box shines brightly. Refracting its light off of Grillby's glasses.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK ORDER *CRY**

 ***Your eyes' floodgates open up, causing tears to run down your face. Your DEF increases this turn.**

*Grillby would rather not hurt someone who's crying, but Grillby's not here right now.

Grillby began another assault, the flames that were his hands glowed brighter as they glow orange on the outside with a blue core. Suddenly, matching his hands, the box changed colors, making the flames of the box turn a magical orange while the rest of it turned blue. In response to this, you freeze and refuse to move in the slightest to avoid damage.

Grillby's flames shrink and return to grey for only a moment before once again flashing, this time with a blue outside flame and the core being orange. You immediately begin moving as quickly as possible as the battle box mimics this. After these two attacks, the flames die down as it is once again your time to move.

"HUMAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? TRY REACHING OUT TO GRILLBY! USE YOUR SOUL AND TRY TO SHAKE HIM FROM HIS TRANCE!" Papyrus' words made much sense. You see this isn't truly Grillby, someone must be either controlling him or replaced him. Suddenly, your ACT menu seems to have changed.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK ORDER CRY *PURIFY**

 ***You cry out to Grillby, telling them resist whatever is doing this to them.**

 ***You feel your soul resonating and pulsating. For a moment, Grillby's head flickers to orange before returning to grey.**

*Grillby seems hesitant to fight, but continues with the same ferocity as before.

"KEEP GOING ALEX, YOU MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT!"

Suddenly, the jets of flames that Papyrus had been holding back stop momentarily before shooting at Papyrus, burning him. Grillby seems horrified by Papyrus' response, but quickly recovers and hides this.

 ***PAPYRUS – HP 650/680**

Other than the shock of the burn and cheap shot, Papyrus seems mostly unharmed. Now, with Papyrus in a daze, Grillby dedicates all of his attention towards you. Grillby holds the right hand out horizontally and raises it quickly as the flames consuming the battle box increase greatly. The flames themselves were red, but the individual tips were alternations of orange and blue, which began to then circle the inside of the battle box counter-clockwise. Sensing something about to happen, you move your soul into an orange flame and follow its path, being sure to continuously move.

Then, the rest of the inside of the box flares up and bursts into a pure white flame. Grillby then holds their left hand out in front of them and flicks their wrist suddenly, causing the flaming tips to reverse direction, catching you off guard and lowering your HP once more as your soul encounters the raw white flames.

 ***HP 8/20**

"HUMAN. ALEX. BE CAREFUL." Papyrus' voice filled with a hint of pain, Papyrus obviously trying to hide their pain for your sake.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] *[ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***BISICLE**

 ***You ate half of the Bisicle, leaving you with a Unisicle. You gave the Unisicle to Papyrus. He looks appreciative.**

 ***You gained 11 HP. HP partially restored.**

 ***HP 19/20**

"THANK YOU HUMAN." Papyrus regains his composure, "NOW, LET'S SAVE GRILLBY!"

*Grillby flashes a look of gratitude to you. He seems grateful for you helping Papyrus.

Grillby suddenly began throwing waves of pure white hot fireballs at you. As you dodge the first few, you gain a moment of reprieve before the waves become unavoidable. As a consequence of making so many fireballs, some of them are blue or orange rather than the normal white color. You use these weaker magic fireballs to your advantage as you stay still or dash through them depending on which color they are. You're starting to get the hang of dodging all of these.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK ORDER ORDER *PURIFY**

 ***You demand that whomever is doing this to stop controlling Grillby. Your soul begins to resonate as well, this time causing Grillby's upside-down, white soul to emerge and become visible.**

 ***Grillby's soul had black lines over part of it, but as your soul grew brighter, many of the lines began to disappear. Papyrus looked at the display and was stunned.**

"EXCELLENT WORK ALEX. HE'S NO MATCH FOR OUR POWER! NYEH HEH HEH!"

*The monster in front of you became angry at your attempts at purifying them, and began to use their special attack.

It began simple enough. To the right were waves of orange flames that were as big as the battle box and to the left was a similar display of blue flames. They then began moving slowly towards the opposite side in which there started. You move your soul to the right through the orange flames, only pausing in between the orange jets to allow the blue ones to pass harmlessly over you. Then, Grillby began sending the circular waves of white flames over the entire box with the small gaps of orange or blue flames. As skilled as you are, this attack seems nearly unavoidable and you are hit twice.

 ***HP 11/20**

This, however, was not the end of the attack. All of the flames died down suddenly, but were quickly replaced with the entirety of the battle box bursting into orange flames. This sudden change catches you off guard, which inflicts damage before you adapt and begin to move constantly. You, however, begin to get exhausted. Soon, you'll run out of stamina and take more damage.

 ***HP 7/20**

"ALEX! BE CAREFUL"

As you feel your strength beginning to give out, you begin to realize you need help to defeat this foe. With as much strength you can currently muster, you call out for help.

* **You cry out to Papyrus for help**

 **…**

 ***Papyrus understands.**

Suddenly, Papyrus' right eye begins glowing orange and red. He raises his right arm and aims it directly at your soul. Suddenly, dark blue bones begin to come straight towards it. Rather than damaging your soul for the movement, it causes your soul to turn blue. "NYEH HEH HEH. THAT'S MY ATTACK. YOU'RE BLUE NOW." As your soul begins to plummet to the bottom of the box due to the increase of gravity, it suddenly begins being thrown around the box as it follows the movements that Papyrus makes with his arms. This movement keeps you from further damage as you take a moment to catch a breath. As Grillby sees this, he begins throwing light blue fireballs at your soul with the intent to destroy it. Papyrus then moves his arm less randomly as he makes your soul effortlessly dodge the fireballs.

"NOT TO WORRY ALEX, I'VE GOT YOU."

Suddenly, the flames die down as Grillby begins to look exhausted. It was time to finally end this battle.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK ORDER CRY *PURIFY**

 ***You stomp your foot and demand that Gaster leave Grillby alone.**

 ***Your soul resonates with energy and pulsates rapidly, causing Grillby's soul to emerge again.**

 ***Grillby's soul begins to glow from the energy your soul emits, disintegrating the black tendrils wrapped around it.**

Suddenly, the grey flames that make up Grillby flare up and return to their normal orange glow. Upon the return to control, Grillby immediately extinguishes the flames all around you. Grillby's gaze locks onto the ground in shame for attacking you.

*It seems that Grillby is back in control.

 _[Epic Battle music fades out]_

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] *[MERCY]**

 ***SPARE FLEE**

 ***You spared Grillby.**

 ***+0 EXP +80G**

*At last, the battle was over…

* * *

Out in the darkness and nothingness of the void, there is a single monster standing. Standing and watching the world through his little peep-hole. This monster, Gaster… He was pissed. Very very pissed off. If there was even a single item in existence with him, it would surely be destroyed in his current rage. How was that even possible. I mean, he knew the child's soul wa powerful, yes, but powerful enough to break Gaster's hold on Grillby? This is something Gaster did not see coming, which made it all the more painful and angering.

Now, Gaster truly had to stop Alex. This previous battle proved, not only that Alex was a force to be reckoned with, but now Gaster had confirmation that if Alex was able to get those materials then they'd be able to take Frisk back. This power of their soul, was this the same power that held him from changing reality as much as he pleased? And thanks to that 'Purification' that they did with their soul, Gaster's energy had been greatly reduced. Even if they stopped Alex now, this encounter set Gaster back days. Maybe even weeks. Luckily for Gaster, time was nearly meaningless to him. What was a few more days in the grand scheme of things. Gaster peered over his shoulder and saw Frisk.

Unlike earlier, when Frisk had been crying and hopeless, they were standing straight up, staring at the window into reality. They must have seen the entire battle. And what they saw must have made them full of hope and determination once more, because right now, they were smiling.

"Don't. Don't you see? Alex is stronger than you thought. They-they'll stop you."

 ** _"STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT? YES. STOP ME? NO. I HELD BACK DURING THAT FIGHT. HAD I WANTED TO, I COULD HAVE REMOVED THEM FROM EXISTENCE WITH A SINGLE THOUGHT."_**

This, of course, was a lie. Something, probably the sheer power of Alex's soul, prevented Gaster from being able to directly effect them. This is something that Frisk was likely beginning to realized.

"What about when you burned your own son? Did you enjoy it, you sadistic-"

 ** _"ENOUGH!"_** Frisk immediately fell silent at this snap.

 ** _"DO YOU REALLY THINK I WANTED TO HURT MY OWN BONE AND MAGIC?! IT HAD TO BE DONE FOR THE GREATER GOOD, ALTHOUGH I WILL SAY IT NOW SEEMS ULTIMATELY UNNECESSARY."_**

Their determination and anger returning, Frisk rebutted. "Greater good? Yeah right. How could anyone hurt their family and say 'it's for the greater good'?"

 ** _"YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. HOW COULD YOU? YOU LACK THE ABILITY TO SEE THE BIG PICTURE. I'M PREVENTING PAIN. THIS IS THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS. I'M MAKING THE HARD CHOICE THAT NO ONE, INCLUDING YOU, HAS THE AUDACITY TO MAKE."_**

"Then make the easy one! Let me go. Fix all of this. Why won't you do that? It can't be as hard as you say!"

 ** _"ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!"_** Suddenly tendrils, similar to those on Grillby's soul, made of pure darkness erupted from the ground and covered Frisk's mouth. Frisk began to violently resist this, shaking back and forth trying to break free of the hold on them.

 ** _"IF YOU REFUSE TO UNDERSTAND, THEN THERE BE NO NEED FOR ME TO ELABORATE!"_** At this remark, Frisk began to calm back down. They knew Gaster wasn't going to listen to them. Gaster then turned his gaze back to the tear of the void, staring back into reality. Alex was making this a lot harder than it had to be. Gaster deep down regretted hurting Papyrus. He loved his sons so much, which was going to make all of this so much harder. He found no solace in the fact that they knew not that he was their father.

Still angry and looking upon Alex, Gaster began to focus and try to replenish his energy. Perhaps he'd try a different approach by trying to explain himself to Alex. After all, they deserved and chance to comply willingly before this got any worse. As Gaster worked on replenishing his strength, Frisk still stood there behind him.

Frisk was relieved to see Alex was alright. They were really surprised to see how well they held their own in that fight against Grillby/Gaster. Alex was always the more athletic of the two, playing soccer almost daily. Frisk wanted so badly to be free and reunite with Alex and their other friends. A certain amount of sense existed in Gaster's plan, but it was still pretty much garbage. If they had a chance, they would try to contact Alex or one of the others, but their phone didn't work here. Even before Gaster found it on them and confiscated it just in case. Frisk sent out a silent prayer from Alex to succeed before readjusting their body to try to see what Gaster was doing.


	9. Welcome to Waterfall

Before Alex stood Grillby who, after recovering control of themselves, fell to their knees on the dry earth around them. In this spot, cleared of snow from his heat, Grillby looked truly distraught. Alex couldn't help but feel sorry for the flaming elemental monster before them. The monster known as Gaster, whom they knew so little about, had seized control of this lovable pub-owner and forced him to duel with Alex to the death.

Beside Alex stood Papyrus, who has since returned his flaming red-orange eye to normal after helping Alex with that fight and begun to fully calm down. If not for the two of them working together, that could've ended with a much grislier conclusion.

Alex walked several feet through what little snow remained nearby and approached Grillby, who was still looking down, refusing to look Alex in the eyes. Though they were not responsible for their action, he couldn't help but feel awful and guilty for those actions. Alex laid their right hand on Grillby's shoulder. In reality, being this close to fire should've burnt Alex, but being a magical monster, the fire must not have to be as hot as it should be. Alex broke the awkward silence first.

"…Grillby… Are you ok?"

"…"

"Grillby, it's alright. That wasn't your fault."

"…"

"Please Grillby, look at me…"

"…" Grillby lifted their head to look Alex in their eyes. Alex had a friendly smile on their face, but it still didn't make Grillby feel any less guilty for their actions.

"Grillby… I forgive you for what happened. It's ok. C'mon, stand up."

Alex helped Grillby to their feet. Hearing Alex forgive him in a heartbeat made Grillby feel a little but better. Grillby wasn't one fore speaking, but felt like saying a few words was necessary in this case.

"…thank you…"

"No problem Grillby. Plus, we're alright."

"…let me heal you two at least…"

Papyrus walked over to the two of them as Grillby's flames began to glow brighter. The flames in his hands began to glow bright green as he put one hand on Alex and the other on Papyrus. The green magic washed over the pair, which felt absolutely heavenly. For those few brief moments, Alex felt amazing and fully restored as a result. As Grillby forced the flames on his hands to return to a normal color and size as he lowered them to his side. Both Alex and Papyrus had their HP fully restored.

"WOWIE! THAT FELT AMAZING GRILLBY. THANK YOU."

Grillby held up his right hand as if to say 'no thanks necessary".

"Hey Papyrus, shouldn't we go let Sans know what happened?"

"…allow me…" replied Grillby, once again raising his right hand.

"REALLY GRILLBY? YOU SURE?"

"…you two look like you have somewhere to go…"

"Ok, thanks Grillby. You feeling better after that?"

Grillby nodded.

"Oh hey, if you're gonna talk to Sans, tell him that someone named Gaster did this. He'll know."

Grillby once again nodded and prepared to walk back down the path, holding their left arm with their right.

"Be careful Grillby. Thanks again."

Grillby waved behind them and walked back into town. Papyrus still looked kinda confused at what had just happened. So Gaster made Grillby fight them? That's insane. Prying himself away from his thoughts, Papyrus focused on the task at hand. If Gaster could do that, then they must hurry.

"ALEX, WE MUST HURRY TO WATERFALL. BEFORE GASTER DOES SOMETHING ELSE."

"Alright, let's go… and Papyrus?"

"YES?"

"Thanks for the help back there. Without you, I don't think I could've saved him. You're pretty powerful." Papyrus was smiling from the complement and thanks.

"IT IS NO PROBLEM ALEX. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD NEVER TURN THEIR BACK ON A FRIEND. AND I'M SURE YOU WOULD'VE DONE FINE WITHOUT ME."

They then continued walking up the path until they reached the river. The river was against a rocky wall that reached all the way up to the top of the cavern. Right on the top of the water was a hooded figure in a full body cloak on a wooden boat. Alex was unable to see the face of the boat owner, but assumed they were friendly. This must be the person that could take them to Waterfall.

"HELLO RIVERPERSON!"

"Tra la la, hello Papyrus and human. Would you care for a ride in my boat?"

"Yes please."

"What nice manners. What's your name, child?"

"I'm Alex. What's yours?"

"Nice to meet you Alex. What's my name?... It doesn't matter."

"ONE RIDE FOR THE TWO OF US TO WATERFALL PLEASE."

"Alright, all aboard. Tra la la."

They both climb aboard the small boat and away they go, presumably to a place called Waterfall. They begin speeding down the river as the riverman, or riverwoman, sang. It was mostly funny little things that were said in the song, but a single line in the song sent a chill up Alex's spine.

" _Tra la la._ Beware of the man who speaks in hands."

* * *

Sans was hard at work on repairing the machine in the basement. Only a few moments ago, he was upstairs grabbing some snacks for while he worked when Grillby showed up. Don't get him wrong, he would much rather be taking a nap right now, but with everything that's at stack, he can't afford to be lazy right now. Grillby knocking on his door, however, was not something that Sans had expected. When he opened the door, with a 'Cinnamon Bunny' half hanging out of his mouth, and saw Grillby he was shocked. Grillby's flames glowed at a much dimmer brightness, which either meant he was tired, upset, or both.

Sans let him in for a moment before Grillby began explaining what had just happened. He had apparently been cleaning some glasses when something came over him and seized control of his body, turning his flames grey. His body then kicked everyone out of the pub and walked out down the path to guard the entrance to the river. They fought with Alex and Papyrus before being freed from the control of Gaster.

After the explanation, Grillby apologized, left, and returned to his bar to re-open it for the remainder of the day. Sans knew Gaster was powerful. I mean, he brought a dead kid back to life and, just as quickly, tore them from existence, but to be able to directly control a monster like that? That could not be a good sign.

With that kind of power, Sans knew they had to quicken their pace and finish the device as soon as possible. Trying to think about why Gaster could be doing this yielded no results. Why would Gaster capture Frisk, try to stop Alex, and yet leave nearly everything else alone. Could this have to do with the sudden stop of RESETs? That demonic flower had RESET this timeline countless times until Frisk appeared.

Then, the timeline only hiccuped and did minor RESETs while they were here. This was likely from Frisk dying a few times, but as soon as Frisk disappeared, the RESETs stopped. Even when Alex had been using the 'Save Points', they never used a RESET or 'SAVED'. This pointed toward the likelihood that Alex does not have the most determination right now, which made sense since their soul wasn't red.

Perhaps these RESETs and Gaster's plan were connected. But enough of that. He had to focus on fixing this machine. This was originally designed to bring back Gaster, but the first use of the machine ended with failure. Now that a soul like Alex's was here, perhaps they could bring Frisk back instead and undo this mess. Sure everything was peaceful now, but deep down, Sans knew that Frisk could have brought them all to the Surface if it wasn't for the interruption. However, with the current state of things, the return of Frisk would only be just that. Sans began working as the machine began to look more usable, but it was still a long way from fixed.

* * *

The boat arrived at their destination almost immediately after that odd line of the song was sung. As Papyrus got off and began to stretch on the shore, Alex couldn't help but turn to the Riverperson and ask "Were you talking about Gaster?", to which they received a nod before another "Tra la la." Alex then proceeded to step off of the boat and join Papyrus. The pair proceeded down the path in front of them before turning left at the crossroads. Finally getting a look at their surroundings during this walk, Alex was surprised at the huge difference of scenery at Waterfall, which differed greatly when compared to Snowdin and the nearby Snowdin Forest.

The ceiling of this part of the underground was visible from where Alex was standing. The walls and floor were a mystifying blue-ish/purple and there were beautiful gemstone adorning the walls here and there. On the roof were countless more gemstones that appeared almost like stars in the sky. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Upon walking for a moment with Papyrus, they reached what looked like possibly the center of another small town, with a rectangular pond in the center and another of those golden stars next to it. Beyond this small, dark pond was a much brighter, perhaps even glowing, source of water.

Alex held back their torrent of curiosity to prevent themselves from running off and exploring the caves and water. It was so captivating and alluring. Here, in this room, there were five pathways they could choose if the way they came was not included. Alex ran over to the golden star to fully renew their energy and stamina.

 ***You take in the beauty of the sparkling gemstones that resemble stars in the night sky. You are filled with Purity.**

 ***HP Maxed Out.**

Papyrus noticed Alex gazing at the wonders of Waterfall with huge, open eyes.

"NYEH HEH HEH! ENJOYING THE SIGHTS, ALEX?"

"Of-of course. It's amazing." The light from the gemstones refracted off of Alex's now seemingly enlarged eyes.

"YES, IT IS QUITE AMAZING." Papyrus now stood beside Alex, looking at the gems with them. It was quite nice to look at these again, and Alex seeing these for the first time made Papyrus' smile widen. This human was pretty great, and pretty strong.

"Alright losers, are you just gonna stand there all day and stare at the ceiling?"

The two of them immediately tore their gaze away from the gems and looked to their side. Standing there was a new monster who was about as tall as Papyrus. She appeared to be a fish-like monster with blue scales for her skin and red/blue fins on the sides of her head. Her red hair on her head seemed to be fashioned into a ponytail.

Over her left eye was en eye patch, which made Alex assume she could no longer see out of it. She had a smirk on her face, which was formed by sharp yellow teeth. Her clothes consisted of a black tank top, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of red boots with a yellow horizontal stripe adorning them. She looked confused and tilted her head slightly when seeing that Alex was, indeed, a human. She slowly walked over to the two of them.

"UNDYNE, NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

"Hey Papyrus. Nice to see you too… Who's the human?" Undyne looked menacing enough to send fear through Alex's body. Something tells them that fighting her is not a wise decision.

"H-hi Undyne. I-I'm Alex."

"UNDYNE, YOU'RE SCARING THEM!"

"Relax kid, I'm not going to hurt you. Unless you do something stupid, then I'll destroy you! FUHUHUHUHUHU!" Alex began to shake nervously. They should probably try to stay on their good side.

"UNDYNE…"

"What?! It's true!"

"BUT THAT'S NO WAY TO MAKE A NEW FRIEND!"

"Are you really gonna try to force every human that falls down to befriend me? It's bad enough Frisk left without a trace!"

"That's why we're here!" Yelled Alex. As soon as the loud shout left their lips, they began to regret yelling at Undyne.

"What, Frisk? That's why you're here? Look kid, even if my phone was working right now, I haven't received any news about them since they left. Besides, why are you interested in Frisk?"

"W-well, Frisk was m-my best friend." Alex then proceeded to hold out their arm and show Undyne the friendship bracelet.

"I'm sorry for your loss human, but I can't help you."

"CAN'T OR WON'T?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"OH NOTHING, JUST SEEMS THAT HELPING OTHERS IS TOO MUCH OF A CHALLENGE FOR YOU TO HANDL-"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Undyne summoned a glowing blue spear and held it tightly in their hands. She looked right into Papyrus' eye sockets with a look of anger on her face.

"Oh don't you go and try to trick me with the whole 'guess you're not up for the challenge" B.S.! That may have worked last time with Frisk, but not again!"

"C'MON UNDYNE, WE HAVE A WAY TO BRING BACK FRISK BUT WE NEED HELP!"

"Bring them back? You're going to force them back down here? Is that it? That's insane!"

"N-no. We found out the Frisk was kidnapped by someone, and we need help."

The moment Alex said the word 'kidnapped', what little happiness was etched on Undyne's face was erased and replaced with pure anger. Her pupils shrunk slightly and her toothy grin become one of malice.

"Someone KIDNAPPED FRISK?! I'm going to destroy whoever did this. I'll REMOVE THEM FROM EXISTENCE. I'll, I'll. NGAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Undyne was enraged, to put it simply. She ended her rant with her loud yell aimed at the ceiling. Something told Alex that everyone in Waterfall probably heard her rage. After a moment of heavy breathing from Undyne, Papyrus began to try to speak once more.

"SO. YOU'LL HELP US!?"

"OF COURSE I WILL! Did you not here my whole rant about obliterating the kidnapper?"

"WELL, YOU DIDN'T USE 'OBLITERATE' DURING YOUR RANT, SO I'M UNSURE ON HOW TO ANSWER." Undyne sighed at his response.

"Well, why don't you fill me in on the plan over a cup of tea at my place. It's right nearby."

"That'd be nice." Replied Alex, who was now not as frightened by Undyne since her anger has been fully directed toward a common foe.

"Excellent, follow me you two!" And they did. They walked down to the farthest path from which they came and turned right down it. Upon walking down this path, they came across a large house in the shape of a fish. To their left was a large training mat with a dummy. Approaching the house, Alex couldn't help but notice that there were signs of a previous fire, such as charred spots on the house. Undyne noticed this curiosity.

"Remember when I said Papyrus tricked me before with Frisk?" Alex nodded. "Well, let's just say that after our day of bonding, things got a little… heated…"

Alex and their love of jokes couldn't help but make one, much to Undyne and Papyrus' disdain. "I don't know. That story sounds a little fishy to me." In response to this comment, Undyne shot a glare at Alex while Papyrus yelled in disbelief and anger. "WHY SANS? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO THE HUMAN?!" Undyne opened the door and let them both into her house.

Undyne's house was not bad at all. The ground has an alternating pattern of yellow and blue tiles with two purple rugs. The walls were adorned in a blue wallpaper with pink fish swimming on it counterclockwise. To their left was a single window, which seems out of place. Near the window was a large piano and to their right close by was a wooded table, which had a huge crack down the middle of it and a hole in the center, almost as if something impaled it.

The table looked almost like someone used duct tape to put it back together, which made Alex wonder what caused the table to break. Near the table was a huge sword, one which Alex could never hope to yield. Straight ahead, along the back wall was a sink, oven/stove, counters, and a fridge. To the left of all that was a single blue door, likely leading to Undyne's bedroom.

Undyne directed Alex to the closest chair to them at the table, which Alex sat down at. Undyne raced into her room for a moment before returning with another chair, which was promptly placed besides Alex for Papyrus. Papyrus took a seat here as Undyne went to one of the drawers before taking out some packets of tea. "This is called 'Golden Flower Tea', it was King As-… it was the ex-king's favorite flavor." Alex could see Undyne bow her head slightly in sadness as she boiled the water on the stove for the tea. Something must have happened to the old king. As soon as the tea was finished, she brought three cups of it to the table. One per person. Papyrus was the first to take a sip.

"WOWIE, THIS IS GOOD UNDYNE!"

"Thanks. I think so too."

Alex eyed their tea. The steam coming off of the surface hinted that it was still really hot. Not wanting to anger their new friend, they took a sip of the really hot tea. It was really hot, but other than that it was pretty good.

"Yeah, it is pretty good. Thanks."

"You're welcome human. Err, what was your name again? Sorry."

"Alex."

"Alright Alex, you're welcome."

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the delicious hot tea that was provided by Undyne. About half-way done with the tea, Alex began to speak. They and Papyrus spent the next few minutes explaining the situation to Undyne. As one of them was speaking, the other was drinking more of their tea. Undyne actually was quite quiet during the explanations, only interrupting the story with a few questions. Alex told Undyne about their fall, meeting Sans, and the duel with Chara. Then, Papyrus told the story of the journey to Snowdin. After that, Alex explained the plan that Sans had come up with, while Papyrus finished the story with the duel against Grillby.

"Well, I've heard crazier. And I know better than to doubt Papyrus, but really? Sans was actually being progressive and active for once? FUHUHUHUHU! I can't imagine that."

"IT IS TRUE UNDYNE. I'VE ONLY SEEN SANS BE LIKE THIS ONCE BEFORE, AND HE HAD GOOD REASON FOR IT."

"Alright, alright. I understand. But I've got a problem with part of your plan."

"And what's that?"

"Temmie Village? They're about as helpful as a trash bag filled with water, and just about as smart as one too."

"BUT DIDN'T ONE OF THEM GO TO COLLEGE? I'M SURE THAT TEMMIE COULD HELP US!"

"It doesn't matter though, Undyne. We need their help. If you came along, I'm sure we could convince them for help!"

"YEAH UNDYNE. COME HELP US WITH THE TEMMIES. WE NEED HELP TO GET FRISK BACK!"

"Have you punks not heard a single word I've said?! Of course I'll help, I was just saying it probably wouldn't be straight forward with the Temmies."

"THANKS UNDYNE!" Undyne proceeds to get up and walk towards Papyrus with her fist clenched. Papyrus knew what was coming, but couldn't react fast enough.

"NOOO! DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON! NOOO!" Alex could only giggle at this display, but quickly realized their mistake. Undyne suddenly grabbed Alex too and proceeded to noogie them too. Her toothy grin was at its maximum width. "Nooooo! Not me two! Ahhhhhh!" After a few moments of doing this, Undyne released them. Both Papyrus and Alex began to softly rub their head where they had just been noogied, both unhappy at their own pain, but were grinning that the other had received the same treatment. Undyne ran off into her room for a good thirty seconds before reappearing in shining knight armor from her head to her neck. She was as ready as she could be as she walked towards the door and stood there a moment before turning around with a huge toothy grin.

"Well punks!? You going to just sit there all day kissing your boo-boos, or are you ready to save Frisk?"

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _First off, I'm really enjoying writing this story and I hope anyone reading this is enjoying the story as well. There were several points so far that I feel I made too rushed, so I apologize for that. Other than that, "PureTale" is turning out about as well as I wanted it to be._**

 ** _Secondly, I plan on trying to submit the chapters at a more even pace, as opposed to the random submission that have been occurring. I plan on trying to submit a chapter every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until this story is completed, but I may miss a day or two due to college stuff and a little thing called 'life', so I apologize in advance if I miss any days._**

 ** _Thirdly, I just went back through what I submitted thus far and edited it. I realized that in my haste to upload the first few chapters, there were several errors and inconsistencies. For this, I apologize. Chapters 1-9 have been updated on 5-7-17. I hope this made it better. If there are other issues or inconsistencies, again I ask for your aid in finding and fixing them._**

 ** _Finally, if you enjoy my story, have any questions, suggestions, words of advice, or words of encouragement, let me know in a review or PM. I really would appreciate it. For anyone reading this, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	10. Ghosts, Robots, and Temmies, Oh my!

The trio walked outside of Undyne's house and began walking back down the path. They returned to the center of this small town and began hearing loud music and singing coming from another nearby path. Undyne rolled her eyes upon hearing these sounds, but suddenly stopped when she heard a loud 'bang' and 'crash'. She grabbed both Papyrus' and Alex's hand and proceeded to drag them down this path to investigate the cause of these sounds, which Undyne already had an idea on what was probably causing this.

Upon going down this short path, they all arrived in front of a set of two houses. The one on the right was pink and the one on the left was blue. The houses looked droopy and almost as if they were leaning their backs against one another. Again, another loud noise was emitted, but it came from the pink on the right. Undyne had a slight look of worry seeing this, so she went up and knocked on the pink door. After a few seconds without a response, Undyne knocked even louder, quickly growing impatient. The door opened right after Undyne stopped knocking the second time, and they were greeted by a white ghost with big eyes and wearing a set of black headphones, which looked kind of expensive.

"oh… hey undyne, hey papyrus… who's this?"

"GREETINGS NAPSTABLOOK, THIS IS ALEX!"

"Hi Napstablook. Nice headphones."

"…thanks… so… what brings you all around here… unless you don't want to say why… then I apologize for asking…"

"Napstablook, we're here because I heard sounds as we were walking by. What happened and where's Mettaton?"

"oh well, he's not feeling too good…"

"Yeah, but I heard those crashes and bangs. Let me see what happened!"

"oh… ok, sure… some in… if you want to, that is…"

Upon entering the house, Alex observes the interior. Just like the exterior, the walls were adorned with hot pink wallpaper. In right hand corner was a TV and the left corner had a bed with six books piled onto it. In the middle of the room lays a motionless male-ish humanoid robot. Just like the house itself, the robot wore boots and a chest plate that were also a pink color. The motionless robot caused a gasp to leave Papyrus and Undyne's mouthes.

"What happened to Mettaton?"

"YEAH, DID HE RUN OUT OF BATTERIES AGAIN?"

"…no, i think there was an error or glitch… he should be rebooting…"

"Wait, I thought you guys said Mettaton was a ghost?!" Undyne shot a glance at Papyrus after Alex said this.

"WELL, HE IS… AND HE ALSO ISN'T."

"*sigh* I think you just confused Alex even further. Napstablook, want to help me explain this while he reboots?"

"…ok… well, Mettaton was once a ghost… he looked like me since we're cousins and he was then called Hapstablook."

"Then my g-good friend Alphys made a robot body for Hapstablook to possess." That studder, or correction, that Undyne just made sounded like they were hiding something. In fact, Alex could see a slight blush arise on Undyne's cheeks when she said 'Alphys'. Someone has a crush…~

"…yeah, and now he's the biggest star in the underground…"

"Understand now, Alex?"

"Yeah, I think I understand now. Thanks."

"…no problem…"

Suddenly, they hear a sound eerily similar to an old computer's dial-up sequence. This reminded Alex of an old computer they and Frisk put together from pieces of garbage several years back. The sound terrified them since it came out of nowhere without warning and was quite loud and obnoxious. Luckily, ever since then, they had never used a computer that had that feature.

After the obnoxious boot-up sounds finishing cycling through, some lights turned on all over the robotic body as it began to power back up fully. Papyrus ran over to his side and help Mettaton to their feet.

After completing their reboot, Mettaton's eye flashes to life, creating artificial pupils within his robotic eyes. It was pretty hard to believe this was anything other than a robot, much less a ghost. Standing on his own now and fully operational, Mettaton began to speak. " _Oohh, what happened Blooky?"_

Mettaton suddenly realized there were now others in his house now. Mettaton scanned all of them quickly. Before him now stood Papyrus, Undyne, and a new human that he's never seen before.

 _"Hello darling, who might you be?"_

"Hi Mettaton, I'm Alex."

" _Nice to meet you Alex."_

"Hey Mettaton, they said you're a star, right? What kind of star are you?"

" _Yes I am darling. I'm a TV star. I star as a dancer, cook, singer, actor, and so much more!"_

"That's c-cool. I'm pretty good at dancing too. You think I could one day join you, maybe?" Alex began to blush slightly.

" _Really, dar-darling? That's wonderful! You should show me sometime. Maybe I'll even let you on one of my shows!"_ Mettaton winked at Alex.

Alex couldn't help but blush brighter in excitement. They'd always wanted to be on TV. "Th-thanks Mettaton!"

 _"No probl-lem darling!"_ Mettaton couldn't help but smile at Alex's optimism and excitement. He knew he just made Alex's day that much brighter.

"HEY METTATON, WHAT HAPPENED?" Papyrus said, trying figure out what had just occurred with him.

Mettaton pursed their lips, looking confused as they tried to remember what happened. One moment they had been practicing a performance with Blooky, and the next they suddenly lost power and a forced reboot occurred as a result.

" _I-I'm not sure Papyrus, darling. Something must have crashed. All I remember is everything getting grey and glitchy before a forced reboot occurred."_

"…well, maybe you should… maybe get it checked out…"

"Yeah Mettaton, I'm sure Alphys could figure out what's going on with you." Once again, Undyne hid a blush as she mentioned Alphys' name. It was too late, however, because Alex noticed this before she hid it.

" _Well, alright, I guess. After all, I must be my best for my upcoming performance tonight. It'll be a smash hit- hit- hit- hit- hit- hit."_ Mettaton's error filled studdering stopped as suddenly as it began. He knew that something was wrong. He really needed to see Alphys ASAP to figure out what was going on. Perhaps it was a problem with the new battery?

Everyone noticed the unintentional repetition, and faces of empathy began to form on all of the people in the room. _"Don't look at me- me like that. Fine, I'll g-g-go righ-ight now."_ Mettaton then began to walk out of the house.

Everyone inside fell silent. Something was definitely going wrong with Mettaton. Undyne was the first to speak up.

"Alright punks, we still got a Frisk to save. Let's go!"

"…oh wait… Frisk is in danger?"

"YEAH, BUT DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. THE GREAT PAPYRUS, UNDYNE, AND ALEX WILL TAKE CARE OF IT!"

"…oh, ok… good luck… i'll just tend to the snails… sorry about taking your time…"

With that, Napstablook disappeared. Alex felt bad for Napstblook and Mettaton. 'Blooky' as Mettaton called him, seemed so shy and self-defeating, but obviously was worried about their cousin. Alex felt their hand be grabbed as they were dragged out the door my Undyne as they were lost in their thoughts. They were once again brought back to the center of the town before their hand was released and they were allowed to walk by themselves.

Alex, Papyrus, and Undyne then walked to the 'east' and promptly passed by the path to the River Person, Undyne leading the way. Suddenly, the trio reached some actual waterfalls in Waterfall. They only way to progress was to trudge through the water, which looked cold. Without hesitation, the two monsters stepped into the water as Alex reached a hand into it, confirming their suspicions. The two monsters turned back and saw Alex's apprehension.

"C'mon punk, it's not THAT cold."

"YEAH, IT DOESN'T BOTHER ME IN THE SLIGHTEST!"

"That's cause you're a skeleton, Papyrus."

"OH. WHOOPSIE, I FORGOT. NYEHHEHEHEHE."

"He-hey Papyrus. Would you mind carrying me across the water?"

"OF COURSE I WOULDN'T MIND HUMAN. HOP ON MY SHOULDERS!"

Papyrus smiled as he turned around and bent down low enough to allow Alex to climb on. Alex grabbed ahold of Papyrus' shoulders as they put both of their legs over him. Papyrus put one hand on head leg as they stood back up. Undyne rolled her eyes at this, while both Papyrus and Alex's grins grew larger.

"Alright, alright. Let's go now! We've got a kid to save!"

"R-RIGHT. ONWARDS!"

They continued forward through the waterfall before reaching land again, which held another waterfall shortly thereafter. Alex, looking around at their surroundings noticed these glowing light blue flowers, which baffled them. They decided to ask Papyrus about them as they continued on.

"Hey Papyrus, what are these blue, glowing flowers?"

"OH, THE ECHO FLOWERS? THEY'RE A SPECIAL TYPE OF FLOWER THAT GROWS IN WATERFALL. IF YOU SAY SOMETHING TO IT, IT'LL REPEAT THE LAST THING IT HEARD. THEY'RE PRETTY NEAT!"

"Yeah, they sound pretty cool. But not as cool as you Papyrus!"

Papyrus blushed at this comment with a faint orange appearing on their skull. Finally, they reached the end of this chamber and reached a dimly lit path that was only illuminated by these weird glowing mushrooms. Papyrus bent down, once again, to his knees to allow Alex to disembark. After doing so, they continued down the path, following Undyne closely.

"Thanks Papyrus!"

"NO PROBLEM ALEX! ANYTIME!"

"Alright punks, listen up. We're almost to Temmie Village, which is filled with Temmies. They aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed."

"GOOD THING I DON'T KEEP ANY DANGEROUS TOOLS IN MY SHED!"

"*sigh* Papyrus, that's not what I meant. These monsters are… well they are quite odd."

"Will they be dangerous?"

"Dangerous? PPPFFFFFFFTTTT! As if! They're about as dangerous as that flower you're holding as a weapon."

Alex looked down and noticed they still had the golden flower equipped from when they fought Chara. Upon noticing this, they took it and put it in their pocket. Alex blushed slightly out of embarrassment. Papyrus felt bad for Alex, so they summoned a shiny silver bone that was really sharp on one end, which made it resemble some sort of bone sword.

"HERE ALEX, TAKE THIS AS A WEAPON."

Alex's eyes began to nearly shine from this gesture. Alex slowly reached for the bone-like sword and held it by the thicker end with both hands. "Thank you so much Papyrus!"

"NO PROBLEM ALEX. ANYTHING FOR A FRIEND."

"Hey, not bad Papyrus. Now Alex looks like they could actually be a force to be reckoned with. Maybe even slightly intimidating! FWAHAHAHAHA!"

Alex stared at the bone, focusing on it with all of their might. Suddenly, like earlier with the friendship bracelet, words began to appear near it that only Alex seemed to be able to see.

 ** _*The Clavicle_**

 ** _*+25 ATK +15 DEF Against Bone Magic_**

 ** _*A Bone Sword made from Papyrus' Magic. It's pretty cool!_**

Alex immediately equipped this in their now vacant weapon spot. They felt, not only more powerful, but very stylish. Alex's grin increased tenfold, and the other two smiled back. They, too, thought it looked pretty cool. Suddenly, the dark and barely illuminated path gave way to a lit up room once more, but this one was much different. Alex looked over their shoulder for a moment and saw Undyne's grin fade as they entered this room.

* * *

Behold, Temmie Village. This small chamber contained many similar looking monsters, which Alex assumed were the Temmies. They all had black hair, wore a blue shirt, and had a pair of dog-like ears on the sides of the head with cat-like ears on top. Their skin was a pure white, and they all vibrated with energy. Honestly, Alex found them quite adorable.

Looking over at Undyne, Alex could see she was not particularly happy on being here, especially with the odd music that was playing here. The origin of the music was undeterminable, but obviously was making Undyne begin to regret coming here. Papyrus, on the other hand, looked at the Temmies with his big shining eyes, just like Alex. Alex couldn't help themselves and walked over to the nearest Temmie and pet it.

"OmG! HumAns iS ToO CutES!" In response to this petting, Temmie began to mover erratically, then they suddenly tried to pet Alex. This caused Alex to fall onto the ground in laughter as Temmie pet them too.

"awwAwa cute!"

Alex continued laughing as Undyne looked on at this display with indifference. Papyrus saw this sane display, but smiled, seeing how much fun Alex was having. Alex stood back up after a moment and collected themselves.

"Alright kid, if you're ready to get what we came for, let's go!" Undyne rolled her eyes while saying this, obviously angry at this holdup. "Alright, alright. I'm ready." The three of them then began to walk toward the center of the 'village' and turned to enter a doorway with a sign above it that contained only a single exclamation mark.

Upon entering this next room, the music shifted into another odd yet upbeat song. Before them was another Temmie, although this Temmie's hair was grey and their shirt was a striped yellow and blue. This Temmie, although slightly different, was nonetheless cute in Alex's eyes. Especially upon seeing the adorable black graduation hat that adorned the adorable monster's head. Alex's eyes must have returned to a large, sparkling appearance in the light, because the Temmie made immediate eye contact with them with a large smile.

"hOI! i'm tEMMIE! whATs bE yoUR Nam Huemin?"

"Hoi Temmie, I'm Alex!" Alex tried to speak as full of energy as Temmie. Although a valiant attempt, Alex could never hope to successfully mimic the energy of a Temmie. Alex couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't like the Temmies.

"hOI Alex, welcom to… da TEM SHOP!"

"GREETINGS TEMMIE, WHAT HAVE YOU GOT FOR SALE?!"

"WeVe goT Dis tHINgs!"

Looking down at the wares and prices, Alex noticed that several items looked identical with a slightly different price and name. There were 'tem flake' for 3G, 'tem flake (ON SALE)' for 1G, and 'tem flake (expensiv)' for 20G. The next and final item was a large red orb. Next to it, scribbled on the cardboard was:

 _Tem pay 4 colleg – 1000G_

 _Temy ARMOR! – 9999G 9000G 8000G 7000G 6000G 5000G_

 _Legendare Artifakt – 9999G_

Alex guessed that this red orb, or Legendary Artifact, was what they needed. Alex looked at the price a second time to make sure they weren't misreading that number. Undyne took a double-take as well.

"WHAT? You expect us to pay 9999G for this orb?"

"but I gota pay for gradskool."

"BUT TEMMIE, WE NEED THIS."

"Yeah. Please Temmie? We need it to help my friend Frisk."

"…ok, tEMMIE will let yo have it for 100G."

"Wait, that's it. We just have to ask politely and you'll help us out? JUST LIKE THAT?" Undyne began to get angry, but quickly tried to surpress this when noticing Temmie getting scared.

"UNDYNE, PLEASE CALM DOWN, TEMMIE'S JUST TRYING TO BE NICE."

"p-plEASE. Tem always wanna help Frisk. They help pay for tem's colleg."

"Thanks Temmie!" Alex took 100G out of their pocket and put it down on the cardboard counter. Temmie smiled and slid the orb closer to them. As Alex reached to pick it up, Temmie pet Alex on the head, making Alex blush slightly as they giggled. "awwAwa, sO cute!"

Temmie then grabbed a sharpie from behind the counter and scribbled out the part about the 'Legendare Artifact' and wrote down 'Sold Out' below it.

"you know, tem got dis orb from dog friend. He gave it tO tem as gift. than he bark and left. was nICe."

Alex put **_The_** **_Legendary Artifact_** into their pocket and thanked Temmie again before they left. "Tell Frisk to come by when they feel better." Suddenly everyone stopped in their tracks and turned around to look at Temmie. Did Temmie just speak in proper English? Were they able to do this the entire time? Papyrus and Alex noticed the anger preparing to boil over inside Undyne, so they each grabbed a hand. They ran and pulled with all of their might to force Undyne outside before she screamed. "bOI!" Undyne's eyes narrowed upon hearing that as she was quickly taken out of the TEM SHOP.

As Undyne's anger had nearly boiled over, the pair of friends still fought to get her as far away from the Temmies as possible. They zoomed through the small room that was the village and back into the dim room with the mushrooms. Finally away from the village, they released their grip on Undyne as she began to shake in uncontrollable rage.

"NGAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She yelled as loud as she could, sending her shrieks of anger echoing across the Underground. At the very least, everyone in Waterfall heard her. "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! YOU'RE TELLING ME THEY COULD SPEAK NORMALLY THE ENTIRE TIME!"

"U-UNDYNE, CALM DOWN. AND WATCH YOUR MOUTH! NOT IN FRONT OF THE HUMAN!"

"SERIOUSLY? THOSE. THOSE. THOSE STUPID TEMMIES! NGAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Alex walked up behind her, half filled with fear, but the other with bravery and compassion. They began to pat Undyne's back. This may he helped, but it ultimately only made clanging sounds since there was a thick sheet of metal between Alex and Undyne called armor. Undyne, however, noticed this attempt at comfort, and began to came herself down. Looking over her shoulder, she makes eye contact with Alex, who's eyes are of worry for her.

"Are you o-ok Undyne?"

"Yeah… I guess. Sorry about the freak-out and curse."

"IT'S OK UNDYNE. WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS, AND WE'LL ALWAYS CARE ABOUT YOU! RIGHT ALEX?"

"Exactly, we both forgive you Undyne. It's ok."

"Thanks you two. Now, let's start towards Alphys' Lab."

Undyne turns around for a moment and flashes a grateful grin at the two of them as the continue back through the dim room. After this room and the next, they reach a turn in the road that leads through a path of glowing echo flowers and beautiful yellow lights. Perhaps they were glowing seed or lightning bugs or something like that. The three of them walked down this path slowly as Alex drank up the sights. It was so beautiful, they marveled, as they brushed their hands against the echo flowers, which were actually pretty soft.

"Alright, enough sightseeing, we've got places to go and people to see."

Alex nodded in agreement as they slightly increased their pace. They knew that what they were doing was urgent. But they still couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the underground. Did Frisk see all of this too? I bet they loved it just as much as Alex did.

They then reached another turn and turned right to cross over a bridge. Against everything within them telling them otherwise, Alex looked down and froze before they even began to cross the bridge. Shaking in fear of the height of the drop, and because there were no railings, Alex stood in place which was quickly noticed by the two monsters.

"*sigh* C'mon Alex, It's ok. We won't let you fall."

"YES ALEX! HERE, TAKE MY HAND. I'LL HOLD IT TIGHTLY AS WE CROSS!"

"Thanks Papyrus." Alex reached out and grabbed Papyrus' hand as they crossed together, just a few feet behind Undyne. After crossing this bridge, they noticed there was another small bridge in front of them. However, before crossing it, they heard someone coming behind them. Alex turned around and saw a familiar ghost.

"Napstablook!"

"…oh hey Alex… hey Undyne… hey Papyrus…"

"Hey Napstablook, what are you doing all the way out here?"

"…well… Mettaton hasn't returned yet… so i got worried…"

"SO YOU'RE GOING TO GO CHECK ON HIM AT ALPHYS' LAB?"

"…yeah…"

"Hey Napstablook, we're going to Alphys' Lab too. Wanna tag along?"

"…are you sure? …i don't want to be a burden…"

"NONSENSE! WE'D ENJOY YOUR COMPANY, RIGHT UNDYNE?

"Yeah, yeah sure. Why not?!"

"Yay! C'mon Blooky!" Napstablook began to blush upon hearing him be called that. Alex took immediate notice.

"Oh, sorry Napstablook. I won't call you that if you don't want me to."

"…oh, no… it's ok, i don't have a problem with that… it's just that Mettaton was the only one to call me that…"

"Alright, thanks."

"You punks done chatting. We've been standing here for a few minutes now. Time is being wasted. Let's go!"

"CALM DONE UNDYNE, WE'RE JUST TRYING TO BE GOOD FRIENDS!"

"Alright, alright, I get it. BUT we still have to get going."

Both Papyrus and Alex sighed in sync as they once again began to follow Undyne. They all walked, or in Blooky's case they floated, across this small bridge and saw what appeared to be a large mountain-looking thing in front of them. Seeing a mountain underground didn't even phase Alex at this point after seeing everything else they've seen so far. The wind was howling above them, as if this had been the spot of countless great battle in the past. Undyne felt this too and smiled, as if she was recalling every single duel that occurred here. Alex would have to ask them about it later.

Up ahead was another golden star. As they approached it, Alex took a few steps towards it and touched it, feeling a wave of pleasure and relief wash over them.

 ***The howling of the wind and the beating of your heart are in sync. You feel ready for a duel!**

 ***You are filled with Purity**

However, after feeling this, they felt an odd feeling within them as well while holding onto the star. They had felt this before, when they previously held these stars. A part of their mind seemed to go dark, but they felt a sort of presence in the darkness. Alex feels… Alex feels a distance, faint presence that was very similar to Frisk's.

* * *

The pure black void remained as dark and empty as ever. Still only containing Gaster and Frisk as Gaster continued to focus on the window into existence, through which he peered onto the timeline. Not just this timeline, however, but others have been looked upon through this window. That was one of the only perk of being in the position Gaster was in. Here, he was able to study other timelines, but only influence their own.

Gaster has learned many things here. Now, he understood one of the reasons why he was unable to change everything and anything he wanted in his timeline. In one word it was, determination. Everything that was alive, both humans and monsters, had some level of it, with human have a considerably larger amount of determination when compared to monsters. The more determination someone had, the harder it was to influence them directly, which made inanimate object much easier to influence.

It was this same reason why Frisk's soul was not yet fully under Gaster's control. The sheer amount of determination within frisk wouldn't allow full control to be given to Gaster, but the amount of time they've spent here has begun to erode their determination, bringing Gaster very close to their goal.

Then, everything changed when Alex arrived. Alex, having the second-most amount of determination, had prevented Gaster from being able to effectively stop them. Another result of Alex entering the Underground was a renewal of Frisk's determination. Now, Frisk was further from under control then they've ever been. Unfortunately, this has led Gaster to a single conclusion that he really wished could have been avoided. In order to fix this, they'd have to kill Alex. It was the only way.

Gaster began focusing on the window once more as his fingers began to move quickly, as if typing on an invisible keyboard. Since taking control of Grillby took so much energy, he had decided to try something else. This time, they'd be using a familiar robot to defeat and kill Alex.

As they peered through the window, they looked upon the group of monsters with Alex. Beyond the mountain in front of them, hiding inside was Mettaton, but Mettaton did not quite look like themselves. Thanks to the study of other timelines, they discovered some of them that contained a Frisk that was a genocidal maniac. These timelines showed that Mettaton was hiding some very important and powerful combat features, but even these timelines showed that they didn't work unless something else was done too.

Gaster, using his skills as an ex-scientist and programmer, unlocked the full potential with this robotic form. He knew that the ghost known as Hapstablook was unable to stop him, and with full control of this form, Gaster would be able to communicate with Alex. This would be Gaster's final attempt at a peaceful solution. After this, well… Gaster was a man of action, and would not take no for an answer if he were given that. As the anti-human combat features began to boot-up, Gaster turned around towards Frisk once more.

Gaster was happy to have some sort of company here in the void, although he knew that Frisk was here for business only, not pleasure. Frisk was once again on their feet, standing up with their head bowed which allowed their hair to mask the expression on their face. Gaster did not want to hurt Frisk. Once he had access to their soul and did what needed to be done, everything would be the way it was supposed to be. Sure, this may end up killing Frisk, but the benefits far outweighed any conceivable cost.

"Leave. Alex. Alone."

 ** _"YOU MUST UNDERSTAND FRISK. I DO NOT WANT TO HURT ALEX, BUT THEY'VE NEARLY LEFT ME WITH NO OTHER OPTIONS."_**

"There's always a choice. Please, it's not too late to stop this!"

 ** _"CHILD, IT IS FAR TOO LATE TO STOP THIS. I'M GIVING ALEX ONE FINAL CHANCE TO STOP RESISTING, BUT AFTER THAT, WELL… THEIR FATE IS ULTIMATELY IN THEIR HANDS… OR YOURS."_**

"What do you mean? How can their fate be in my hands?"

 ** _"IF YOU WOULD JUST LET GO AND LET ME HAVE YOUR SOUL, EVERYTHING WOULD BE DONE AND OVER WITH. ALEX WOULD BE UNHARMED. YOUR FRIENDS WOULD BE OK. ISN'T THAT ALL YOU REALLY WANT?"_**

"…"

 ** _"EXACTLY AS I THOUGHT. YOUR CHOICE IS VERY SIMPLE FRISK."_**

"Alex will save me. And we'll save you too. I believe anyone could be a good person if they just try hard enough."

 ** _"YOU NAÏVE CHILD. I CANNOT BE SAVED, NOR DO I NEED TO BE. MY ACTIONS THUS FAR HAVE BEEN EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING BUT SELFISH."_**

"How do I know you won't just take my soul and continue hurting my friends?"

 ** _"I WOULD NOT LIE TO YOU, AND I'D RATHER END THIS PEACEFULLY. MY OFFER STILL STANDS. IF YOU CANNOT DECIDE NOW, I'LL JUST WAIT FOR YOUR ANSWER LATER. HOWEVER, ANY FURTHER WAIT FOR YOUR ANSWER, AND I CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR MY ACTIONS."_**

"I… I…"

Suddenly, out of nowhere was the sound of a voice. Frisk lifted their head at the sound of the voice and knew immediately who's voice it was.

"Frisk, if you're out there, know that we're coming to get you. Stay Determined!"

Gaster looked over to the window and changed the point of view to focus on Alex. Their eyes were closed as they held onto a 'SAVE POINT' with their right hand. Gaster was not happy at this interruption, so he held out his hands and a pulsating beam of darkness was emitted through the holes in his hands. It entered the window and the golden 'SAVE POINT' immediately turned to a pure black color, burning Alex's hand and severing the connection they had somehow made.

Frisk remained quiet, letting a tear drop from their eyes as they bowed their head again. Gaster didn't need to ask Frisk to know what their answer was now, thanks to Alex's intrusion. Luckily, it was only a one-directional communication, so that single message was all that occurred without giving off any feedback to Alex other than the singe. Gaster was not pleased by that interruption. It was time do begin as Gaster's eyes began to glow green and purple as he focused completely on Mettaton. Gaster had another trick up his sleeve for this fight. He had altered the variable of a fight which, in turn, raised the stakes.

Guess they had to do things the hard way.


	11. Mettaton's Neo Dance

Suddenly, before Alex and their friends stepped out Mettaton, or something that used to be him. The robot before them had a new battle-body-like suit that looked menacing with those large spikes on his shoulders, which oddly resembled high-heeled legs, much like the ones used by the same robot to walk.

Behind this robot's arms were glowing, pulsating wings. The right arm of Mettaton's was replaced with an arm cannon rather than a hand and their hair was standing firmly up, revealing their right eye, which was still partially hidden by the shadows. The right eye did not look like his left.

All of the previous color that adorned the robot's fabulous body has now since faded to a dull grey or dark black. The same can be said of their Soul heart on their chestplate, which has also turned dark grey.

Within this body could be heard a faint shouting, presumably from Happstablook, as it appeared that he no longer could control the robot shell that was their body. Sounds that are often associated with errors and glitches were heard occasionally from this robot.

Then, a menacing but garbled voice began to emit from the body that was neither the ghost within the shell, nor the normal voice of Mettaton.

It was one that sounded distant, yet close. It was unrecognizable, yet easily understood. If darkness and absence could be used to describe speech, it would be used here.

 ** _"ALEX…"_**

"Met-Mettaton? Is that you? Are you ok?"

 ** _"METTATON…don't worry-y about him… Worry about me…"_**

"Is that… Gaster?" Undyne cut in, confused at this display.

 ** _"Ahh… so my secret-cret is out then-en?"_**

"…where's Happstablook…?" Although shy, Napstablook seemed to begin to get upset. "…where's my cousin?!"

 ** _"NAPSTABLOOK, your cousin is unharmed-harmed."_**

"LET HIM GO GASTER! WHY ARE YOU HURTING HIM?! NO ONE DID ANYTHING WRONG!"

 ** _"PAPYRUS… You shouldn't have gotten-ten involved! And this has nothing-ing to do with right or wrong."_**

"Then what the hell are you doing to our friends?! You're making no damn sense!"

"LANGUAGE, UNDYNE. NOT IN FRONT OF THE HUMAN!"

 ** _"Enough of this, I am here-ere to speak. ALEX, your shenanigans have-ave gone on long enough."_**

"Why should Alex listen to a jerk like you?!"

 ** _"UNDYNE, I have no quarrel with you-ou, but if you do anything-ing stupid, I won't have a problem-lem killing you!"_**

"You can try you little shit, but there's no chance of that!"

"LANGUAGE UNDYNE!"

"THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT PAPYRUS! We have bigger problems than me using grownup words!"

 ** _"ENOUGH! LISTEN TO ME NOW! BEFORE I LOSE MY PATIENCE!"_** Everyone stopped talking as Gaster/Mettaton continued.

 ** _"FRISK is with me, and I-I doubt they'd appreciate watching their friends turn to dust out of their own ignorance!"_** Alex cringed at hearing Frisk's name be thrown out there like that.

 ** _"ALEX, if you stop this-is and give up your soul, I will return Frisk. It's as easy-y as that."_**

"My… my soul for Frisks?" The robot before them smirked hearing their curious response.

"No, you can't do that Alex. It's a trick!"

"YEAH ALEX! LISTEN TO UNDYNE!"

 ** _"Yes. I need-eed seven souls in order to split the timeline correctly. Don't you want to save FRISK-ISK? Here's your-our chance!"_**

"How do we all know you're not lying here? This could all be a trick!"

 ** _"You want-ant proof?! Ok, listen care-arefully then, because I'm only doing this once!"_**

Suddenly, Mettaton's eyes flickered for a moment before suddenly turning a bluish color. It began to speak once more, but the voice was much lighter and more familiar. They all recognized its owner.

 _"A-Alex? Undyne? Papyrus? Napstablook?"_

Tears began to form in Alex's eyes. It was Frisk! They were still ok! Everyone else was shocked upon hearing Frisk's voice, as if they were hearing it for their first time. "F-Frisk! Are you alright?"

 _"It's so dark here, Alex… Alex, you must listen to me!"_

"FRISK! What is it! Please tell me you're ok!"

 _"I don't have much time. Don't take Gaster's deal. Continue with the plan you formed-ormed-ormed!"_ Everyone noticed the sudden stutters with Frisk's voice. It appears that Gaster did not like what Frisk said.

"Frisk, It'll be ok. We'll save you!"

"Yeah punk, hang in there!"

"WE'LL GET YOU OUTTA THERE FIRSK!"

 _"I know-ow. Thank-anks you guys-uys. Stay-ay determined-ined, Alex-ex-ex-ex-ex!"_ Just as quickly as the blue arrived in his eyes, the eyes quickly returned to a pale grey color.

 ** _"You know they're ok, and quite as resilient as ever…"_** Gaster looked displeased by the outburst of Frisk. **_"So, do we have a deal?!"_**

Alex looked to their friends, who felt the same way as Alex did. Alex nodded and returned their gaze to Gaster/Mettaton. "NO!"

 ** _"No? Let me rephrase my offer. You WILL give me-e your soul. You can just choose to give-ive it willingly for Frisk, or I will take it by force!"_**

"Listen you tin can, we're not just gonna give you our friend's soul. And we're sure as hell not going to let you take it!"

"YEAH, EVERYONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO KEEP THEIR OWN SOULS. NO STEALING! THAT'S NOT VERY NICE!"

"Papyrus. Undyne. Thanks for the support."

"No problem, Alex."

"ANYTHING FOR A FRIEND! NYEH HEH HEH!"

 ** _"*sigh* It appears we will have to do this the hard-ard way! Just remember that I did try to show you-ou mercy This could have been pain-painless!"_**

Mettaton's body began to shift violently, with many loud sounds being emitted from within. His arm cannon began to glow as it came online. The pale grey and black lights began to glow brighter.

 ** _"BEHOLD! THE POWER OF METTATON NEO!"_**

Suddenly the world around the five of them blinked and turned black and white. It was time for a battle!

* * *

Just like the previous two duels, your silver soul begins to shine and appear in front of you, but something is wrong. This time, the 'battle box' doesn't appear and your soul only hovers a few inches from your chest. Your eyes widen from this, just as all of your friends around you. Mettaton Neo only smirks at you confused response.

 ** _"I hold power over reality! It's time-ime I show you what I really can do-o!"_**

 _[Cue "Power of 'NEO'" or "Death By Glamour". Whichever you'd prefer!]_

 ***Mettaton Neo has run out of pity and mercy. It's SHOWTIME!**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***CHECK PLEAD COMFORT PURIFY**

 ***Mettaton NEO ATK – 90 DEF – 9**

 ***Dr. Alphy's greatest invention. Here to stop your Genocide. Wait, what?**

Mettaton's arm cannon beings to glow a bright pure white. You tried to force your soul to move in anticipation of the attack, but it remained directly in front of you. Mettaton's arm cannon began to fire large bursts of pure energy.

You jumped sideways, out of the way of the beam of energy and rolled to your left. Upon finishing the roll, you began running to the left as the beam gave chase. Running and running as fast as you could, you turn back and see the beam is about to get you.

Undyne jumps in, grabs hold of your arm and pulls you backwards and to the right as the beam narrowly missed you. She keeps a firm hold as she dashes off, nearly dislocating your arm. After running for a few more moments, the beam stops to recharge.

"Alright. Papyrus! Napstablook! Go get Alphys! She's the only one who can shut down Mettaton!" Papyrus and Napstablook nod as they dash by Mettaton towards Hotland.

Undyne then turns back towards you. "Alright Alex, let's stop this piece of junk. If we can hold out long enough, Alphys will be able to shut him down without casualties!" You nod in understanding. Maybe you could end it sooner by PURIFYing Mettaton and freeing him.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK PLEAD COMFORT *PURIFY**

 ***Your soul began to pulsate and glow. The beam of light emitted from your soul aims and hits Mettaton's soul on his body.**

 ***…**

 ***...But nothing happened…**

 ** _"Hahaha. I took-ook control of Mettaton, not Happstablook. Your 'PURIFY' won't work-ork this time! I can adapt-dapt! Can you?!"_**

Suddenly, Mettaton's left arm morphed into a cannon as well. Both powered up and prepared to fire simultaneously. You feel a strong magic wash over you as your soul turns pure green.

The beams fire, but were blocked by a spontaneously forming green shield in front of your soul. While like this, you feel your feet are nearly glued to the ground, unable to move.

Mettaton Neo/Gaster was not happy by this display. They moved one arm away from Alex and their shield and aimed it at Undyne, who summoned a powerful spear to her hands to use to block the energy.

"It'll take more than that crap to take me down!"

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK *PLEAD COMFORT PURIFY**

 ***You plead with Gaster to stop this nonsense. You tell him this could still be solved peacefully.**

 ***Gaster/Mettaton Neo laughs at this. He doesn't believe you.**

Mettaton's left arm cannon returns to the form of a hand. He spreads his arms out a far they they reached horizontally as their eyes glowed brighter. Then, a small, white array of box-like robots came down from nowhere. You look up with your mouth open in awe.

These robots stop a dozen feet above your head and begin throwing these heart-looking projectiles at you that seem to be aimed at you from all directions. Undyne, swings her spear across your chest harmlessly, causing your soul to return to its normal silver and freeing your legs.

As soon as your legs return to their normal selves, you take off and run as the projectiles follow you as they rain down. They pursue you as if locked on, but nonetheless you continue running. You dodge and roll backwards as they seem to catch up to you, causing many to miss and hit the ground, disappearing.

As soon as the first heart missed and hit the ground, Mettaton's smug smile began to fade, rapidly being replaced with one of malice.

You reach to your side and directly equip **The Clavicle** to both of your hands, gripping the handle tightly. You race towards Undyne to join her by her side. Along the way, a larger heart had formed and was about to hit you dead on as you take your sword and slice it cleanly in half.

Both halves landed behind you and faded away as you continued towards Undyne. You go back-to-back with her as you hold your sword and she holds her spear. You both begin slicing the hearts that came towards you both until they all stopped and the square robots faded.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK PLEAD *COMFORT PURIFY**

 ***You tell Happstablook that everything will be ok. You'll make sure nothing happens to them.**

 ***You hear a sigh from deep within Mettaton. Other than that, nothing happens.**

 ** _"You see this form? This was originally created-ed to stop genocidal maniacs. But thanks to my-my knowledge of timelines, I learned the pros and cons of this-is form. You cannot win!"_**

"Shut up, you robotic pile of shit! How dare you hurt everyone I care about. Frisk, Papyrus, Alex. It ends now!"

 ** _"Tsk, tsk. Undyne, Undyne, Undyne. Don't you want what's best for monsters. If you give me Alex's soul, I could destroy the barrier and set you free!"_**

Alex looks at Undyne in worry, but Undyne shakes her head. "As if I'm going to listen to a kidnapping, possessing, murderous monster such as yourself! You must be delusional! I thought you were a scientist! I thought you were smarter than that!"

Mettaton Neo did not look appreciative of her response, and summoned a guitar made of pure energy. As their left hand began to strum it, waves of energy, looking how one would imagine a sound wave appearing, began to form. They were a combination of orange, blue, and white.

You tried to roll through the orange, hold still during the blue, and dodge the white, but this was tricky. Using your sword, you tried slicing though the white waves to avoid damage, but this simply creates a crease in the wave and hit you anyways, depleting your health greatly.

 ***HP 12/20**

 ** _"In this current-ent timeline, this form is unbeatable. You cannot hope to defeat me!"_**

"Alright, pal. I've heard enough of this. OH 'timeline' THIS AND 'timeline' THAT. I'M SO COOL BECAUSE I TALK ABOUT TIMES AND LINES! FWAHAHAHAHA, what an idiot!"

Needless to say, Gaster did not like this taunting.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] *[ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***Cinnamon Bunny**

 ***You ate the Cinnamon Bunny. HP maxed out.**

 ***HP 20/20**

 ** _"It's over-er Alex! You cannot keep this up-up"_** Suddenly a shift in the voice occurs and a quick outburst is heard. Presumably by Happstablook. " _IT'S SHOWTIME DARLINGS! KNOCK 'EM DEAD!"_ As a result of Happsatblook's outburst, you have an epiphany.

 ***A new option has appeared under 'ACT'.**

Mettaton Neo regains his composure and begins to fire beams from the right arm as the left arm summons more square robots to throw hearts at the pair.

Undyne focuses and aims magic, turning half of your soul green while leaving the bottom half silver. A shield made from green magic forms on your left hand as you hold the bone blade in your right. You are still free to move, however.

Feeling this rush of energy and magic, you duck and slide to your right before rolling sideways, avoiding the first sweep of the laser and dodging three hearts. Undyne throws spears into the air, puncturing many of the hearts and destroying them midair, preventing about sixty percent of them from reaching you.

You propel both legs forward, jumping to your feet and dashing away to the left which causes an additional four hearts to hit the ground.

The laser from Mettaton's arm comes by for another sweep as you bring your left arm in front of you, blocking the beam with the shield. A wave of hearts approach from your right, which you quickly slash in half with your sword in your free hand. You can almost hear peppy music.

The hearts cease and the laser powers down for another recharge. The amount of energy used on your shield causes it to crack and disintegrate, however, this over exertion of energy causes Mettaton's ATK to drop to half for the next turn. This doesn't make Mettaton Neo happy.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK PLEAD COMFORT PURIFY *** ** _DANCE_**

 ***A feeling of happiness and energy comes over you. You can't help but dance to a beat!**

 ***Your SPEED has increased this turn!**

You begin tapping your foot and moving your hips to a beat in your head, which has seemed to come to life and filled the black and white arena. Both Undyne and Mettaton look at you in disbelief, but giggling can be heard within Mettaton Neo. You couldn't help but smile as you move with the music.

Snapping out of it, Mettaton Neo suddenly steps closer to you, preparing to physically attack you rather than using ranged magic or summoning robots. His right foot stomped down where you stood until you slid to the left. As the left leg was swung around to hit you, you bent backwards as if you were playing limbo, completely dodging this swing.

Letting the music carry you and fill you with energy, you tried your best to moon-walk backwards, avoiding the second swing of Mettaton's left leg. You ran to the right and slid, holding both arms out to your sides as you spun on your right heel and struck a sick pose.

Undyne could only stare on at this display in disbelief. Mettaton Neo, on the other hand, was getting madder and madder at this display by the second and proceeded to continue attacking. The anger within Gaster/Mettaton Neo caused their right arm with the cannon to burst into bright white flames.

Swinging this arm, Mettaton Neo swung low to prevent another limbo-dodge while also swinging from behind to hopefully catch you off guard. A second before it hits, you jump and dodge over it with a flip, landing perfectly a few feet back from where you started.

Then, the arm swung vertically in a circle from bottom to top at you again, but you did a sideways flip to your right, landing about three feet from Undyne, still amazed at this display. You make eye contact with Undyne while dashing towards the other side of her as Mettaton Neo backs up and prepares to unleash the arm cannon again.

Undyne was captivated by this display and didn't know whether to be amazed, embarrassed, or a combination of both. You wink at Undyne as you choose what to do next. Although, that is a lie since you already knew what you were going to do next.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK PLEAD COMFORT PURIFY *** ** _DANCE_**

 ***You feel the music integrating with your soul. You cannot help but, once again, dance along to the beat!**

 ***Your SPEED increased this turn.**

 ***Mettaton is unamused.**

You run to Undyne's side as the arm cannon activates. You wink at her as you take both of her arms. "Follow my lead!" you tell her. She begins to grow a blush on her face, which makes her look kinda cute as opposed to how she looks when mad. She slowly nodded in understanding.

The laser fires at where you two previously stood as you lead Undyne in a dance. You two dashed momentarily to the right of the blast and were spread apart an arms length, still holding onto each other's hands. You pull her back towards you as your soul begins to glow brightly, causing a reaction in Undyne's upside-down white monster soul.

Suddenly the music pulsating in your PURITY soul resonated and 'infected' Undyne's as she now began to dance in sync with you. Now the fun begins.

You let go of one hand as you spin her around to your right, letting the momentum propel you along, dodging another blast from the cannon. As the beam moves to Undyne's position, you pull her closer, spinning her and causing her to return in your arms facing the same direction as you. You both continue dancing in place for a moment before continuing on the defensive.

In anger, Mettaton Neo's left arm becomes a cannon again. These two independent cannons began to simultaneously fire upon the pair of dancers. As you continued to spin and swirl with Undyne, you see the blush on her face begin to fade as she got more and more into the dancing, completely ignoring everything but the music. Allowing you to lead the way through the attack.

Continuing the dance, you move your feet in and out from their current position, spinning and sliding side to side. The constant movement, which Mettaton Neo could not perfectly follow, kept the pair out of the beams as the dance went on.

After doing another spin, they let each other go as they struck another epic pose side-by-side. This happened just as the beams combined between the two, once again missing them. The beams stopped to recharge once more as the pair caught their breath, breathing heavily.

Undyne's smile grew to a grin from the performace as she caught her breath. It was now your turn to make another choice, but it seemed pretty obvious what your choice was going to be!

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK PLEAD COMFORT PURIFY *** ** _DANCE_**

 ***The music flows through you like the blood in your veins. You cannot stop it even if you wanted.**

 ***Your SPEED increased this turn!**

 ***Mettaton was tired of this. His anger caused his ATK to increase this turn.**

 ** _"Enough of your tom-tomfoolery! This 'dancing' is unamusing! Your time is at hand!"_**

"Too bad Gaster, but I couldn't even stop if I wanted! Why don't you just stop?" You replied as your hips and feet continued to move to the groove.

Suddenly, another blast lands to your sides as you dash forwards instead before looping around back toward Undyne, who already had her right arm outstretched in preparation for the next dance routine.

Your feet begin to move involuntarily as you step in time to the tune with Undyne. For a moment, Mettaton Neo stops their attack before quickly realizing the connection between the music and your dance-moves.

He once again opened fire as many of the beams once again missed you. Another beam lands in front of you two as you spin clockwise to the left away from the blast. Mettaton, however, anticipated this and blasted you directly. Before the blast, you let go of Undyne and spun her away as you separate, getting her out of the way of the beam.

You take the hit directly as Undyne was spared by your quick thinking. The entirety of the beam hits you directly as you feel pain wash over you. That's definitely gonna leave some nasty bruises. As she stops spinning, her smile fades when she notices what you did by spinning her away. Her anger quickly returned to cover her face.

 ***HP 8/20**

As if on cue, the music slowed for a moment as Mettaton backed up and allowed their cannons to recharge. Again, because of overexertion of power and energy, his ATK will be lower to half next turn.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK PLEAD COMFORT PURITY** ** _*DANCE_**

 ***Nothing could stop the beat. Both the music's and your heart's. Time to Groove!**

 ***Your SPEED increased this turn!**

 ***As much as Undyne didn't want to, she joined in too!**

 ** _"ENOUGH OF THESE GAM-AMES! This is your last stand!"_**

"Come and get us then, Gaster!" You issued him a challenge. Seeing the Pure Kindness within you, Undyne used nearly the maximum of her magic to re-create the shield on your left arm and one on hers as well. You approach Undyne and join hands. "You ready Undyne, for our finale?" She nods confidently, not breaking eye contact.

You two began the next number as Mettaton Neo dashed forwards towards the pair, preparing to strike. Lifting into the air slightly with his wings, Mettaton launched at you, spinning with both legs outstretched.

He zoomed over your heads as you limboed underneath him, in time with the music, while holding hands. You returned to each other as they sidestepped and turned ninety degrees to be both facing Mettaton Neo. Neo was not happy at the dodge and proceeded to a propel themselves forwards toward the pair.

You dodged again and again as he swung arms and legs at the pair. Sidestepping right and left. Jumping up and bending down. You swung and spun out just out of reach, dodging every attempt to damage you. As if his anger could create power, the arm cannons once again lurched to life.

They both fired upon you as you continued to dance, but angled Undyne and your own left arms to position the shields just right. The shields blocked the incoming energy as you continued to take turns stepping towards one another as they went forwards and backwards.

Mettaton Neo then summoned down the square robots from earlier as they once again threw hearts at you that actively sought you out. The on-slot of hearts were, so far, blocked by the shields as the pair continued to dance around the battlefield to the music. As the hearts gave chase, so did Mettaton and his arms of shiny death.

You two bent, rolled and jumped over the hearts, lasers and Mettaton, himself, continuing to avoid harm until a perfectly timed kick hit you in the chest. The blow separates you from Undyne as you slide across the floors, now riddled with holes and trenches.

Your entire breath is gone as you cough and struggle for breath. Mettaton Neo walks slowly towards you as you struggle to your feet. Your HP has certainly dropped.

 ***HP 5/20**

You struggle to your feet and barely regain your footing as you make eye contact with Mettaton Neo. A smirk painted their face as they approached. You notice the glowing right arm cannon aimed at you as it fired, hitting you in the left leg, returning you to the ground.

 ***HP 1/20**

"ALEX! NO! Hold on!" You hear Undyne shouting more towards you, likely along the lines of 'hang on' and 'I'm coming', but you are unable to hear it over the ringing in your ears as you lay on your stomach in the dirt.

You try to stand back up, but are unable to do so because of a shooting pain coursing through your body. The epicenter of this being the spot on your upper leg, the spot in which the beam impacted. You put both hands on the ground and look down towards your leg as your fears were realized.

Your left leg was now twisted in an unnatural angle, blood seeping out of a burnt wound where the beam impacted. Your leg was definitely broken, no question about it. As you look forward, you realize your face is now inches from Mettaton Neo's legs.

Suddenly, a hand grabs you by your sweater and lifts you into the air. You are now about a foot off the ground looking directly into the grey eyes of Mettaton Neo… No. You are now looking directly into the eyes of W.D. Gaster. You audibly hear the music fade out, leaving the howling wind above you producing the only sound.

 ** _"It's over child-ild. I'll admit, I'm kinda disappointed ending this here. But, I do need that soul-oul of yours. It'll make this whole-oul thing a whole lot easier!"_** Undyne had noticeably gotten a lot quieter, but you were unable to turn around to look to see if she was alright.

 ** _"I'm sorry it has to be this way, Alex. I truly am. Goodbye…"_** On cue, the arm cannon began to power back up and began to glow an unearthly black color. It was aimed directly at the floating Silver soul between you and him.

Suddenly, it stopped and powered down while the click of a switch was heard coming from behind him. Gaster looked down and saw this and began to move their arms to stop what was happening before they, too, stopped working and froze in place. You could hear another female voice behind Gaster, but were unable to see who it belonged to due to the angle.

"T-that's enough M-Mettaton! Override sequence 'EPSILON, UNDYNE, OMEGA, PI'!"

Gaster's arms and legs went completely limp, falling to his knees and dropping you on your legs. You screamed in agony as you landed in this way before falling and laying on your right side. You hear someone rush to your side and pick you up. You look and see that it's Papyrus.

"NEVER FEAR ALEX, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD NEVER ABANDON THEIR FRIEND!" He had a gleam of happiness and relief in his eyes, which turned to worry as they noticed the burning hole in your left leg.

You looked over and saw Undyne walk over to you with worry in her eyes. "Are you ok Alex?"

"I-I'm ok, I guess. I've b-been better!" You find it hard to speak, both from being out of breath and from the pain. You feel exhausted, but are kept wide awake from the pain.

"Oh my gosh! A-are you ok Alex?" You look over and see a short yellow monster that almost resembled a dinosaur. She was wearing a lab coat and a pair of glasses. "We c-came as f-fast as we could. S-sorry about taking so long!"

"It's o-ok… Alphys, is it?"

"Y-yeah, that's me. I-I'm Dr. Alphys."

"…ok. You ca-ame just in time. It's ok."

"Hey, what about this asshole who just attacked Alex and I?!" They all then directed their attention to the now-kneeling robot who was frozen in place and unable to move.

 ** _"F-foolish monsters. You-ou are only delaying-ing the inevitable. You cannot-not stop me!"_**

Although in pain, you can't help but point out what Gaster accidently said because of the errors. "Ha. Ha. So we can't not stop you?! That's. Good to know. Thanks. Gaster."

"IT NICE TO SEE YOUR HUMOR IS UNHARMED FROM THE FIGHT, ALEX!"

Gaster ignored the stupid comment. He didn't find it as amusing as you knew it truely was. **_"You're all-all so naïve. Don't you-ou know why I'm do-oing this?"_**

"G-gaster? That… that is Gaster?" Alphys thought aloud. You nodded in response to her question.

 ** _"I'm creating-ing more timelines. Many, many-many more timelines. Then, I'll be able to-o 'fix' this one. Don't you-ou see? I'm the savior here. I'm the hero. I'm no-o villain!"_**

"HEY BUDDY! LISTEN UP! We don't need no 'fixing'. I don't care about this 'timeline' nonsense. What you're doing is unacceptable!" You look over to Alphys and see a face of worry form when he mentioned 'timelines'.

"Alphys, would you do us all a favor and shut this asshole up!"

"With pl-pleasure, Undyne. S-shutdown sequence: 'Mew, Mew, Kissy, Kissy, One.'"

As the glowing began to fade all over Mettaton's body, everyone heard one final sentence be uttered from his lips before fully powering down. **_"I'll see you soon Alex…"_**

With the final word soon, every light and display on Mettaton's body faded and turned off. You all stood there in silence for a few moments before everyone turned their attention back to you. A look of worry washed over all of their faces, including Napstablook, who still floated there quietly, as they looked upon your mangled leg.

"D-don't worry. I c-can treat your leg back at m-my lab. It'll be ok… I promise!"

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_**

 ** _I really, really enjoyed writing this fight scene and all of the dialog accompanying it. I hope you liked reading this! Send me a message or leave a review if you think this was worthy of one. Thanks for taking the time to read this story of mine! I only began writing this because I came up with my own idea of an alternate timeline in which the Neutral Ending was just the beginning and it just blossomed from there. Now, I'm filled with Pure Determination as I continue writing the adventures of Alex and Frisk!_**

 ** _P.S. I'm actually a pretty bad dancer, unlike Alex. I can't do much beyond the Cha-cha slide. And no, I don't need your pity._**


	12. Is there a Doctor in the House?

Undyne squatted down and picked up Mettaton's body. She threw it over her back and was ready to carry it to Alphys' lab. Papyrus held Alex a little bit closer as the wind picked up slightly, sending chills down their fragile body. Napstablook still floated there behind the others as Alphys led the way to the lab through the opening in the mountain.

Alex began to glow a faint green as Papyrus used some of their healing magic on them. Though inexperienced and just a novice with healing magic, the small amount that he knew was keeping much of the pain away as they were walking.

Alex began to think back to that fight. Yeah, they quite literally did break a leg during that performance, but other than that, dancing with Undyne was quite fun. She looked like she was having fun too, even if she was against it initially.

The group of friends walked down a large hallway with a bright neon sign to their left. It read, 'WELCOME TO HOTLAND!'. This long hallway, although illuminated by the sign, was still quite dark. As they continued forward in silence, Alphys broke it by speaking.

"S-so, what exactly ha-happened back there?" Alphys turned her head slightly to look back at Alex, still in Papyrus' arms.

"Well, Gaster possessed Mettaton, I think. As everyone else went to get you, Undyne and I fought and distracted him."

"S-so you didn't, um, d-damage him?" Both Alex and Undyne nodded. "Phew, that's a relief- b-but I apologize for taking so long… I had trouble getting my stuff… and, um…" Undyne interrupted her train of thought.

"Hey Alphys, we all ended up ok, right? No need to keep beating yourself up." Undyne said this as she patted Alphys lightly on the back.

"Yeah, it's fine. You saved us, right?" Alex joined in at attempting to cheer up Alphys/

She managed a weak smile. "Y-yes. Your'e right… So, um, what happened during the fight? H-how were you able to distract him for so l-long?"

"Well, Mettaton, errr… Happstablook, spoke out during the fight cheering me on, which gave me an idea." Now Undyne turned around with wide eyes. She put on an angry smile and motioned with her hand across her throat for Alex to stop. They thought it was quite funny, and continued with the explaination.

"I took Undyne's hands and led her in a dance, both distracting him and dodging most of his attacks. It was quite fun, right Undyne?"

Undyne's blue scales on her face turned a beet-red color upon hearing Alex's confession. If not for the embarrassed look that adorned her face, she would surly be angry at Alex.

"Wh-what? Y-you and Undyne d-danced? Undyne, you, um, never told me y-you could dance! Was it from our a-anime?"

"ANIME?"

Alex could see Undyne's face turn a shade redder as Alphys gave Papyrus a look of disbelief at his ignorance of anime. Papyrus held one hand up in defense while using the other to hold Alex closely.

"WHAT? I ONLY WATCH METTATON'S SHOWS. NOTHING MORE!"

"So Undyne… how DID you get so good at dancing?" Alex began grinning towards Undyne, who was not amused by this line of questioning.

"W-what can I say? I learned from Mettaton's shows!" She tried valiantly to lie.

"BUT I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU HATED METTATON'S SHOWS?!" Undyne shot Papyrus a glare for giving a proper rebuttal that pointed out her lie.

"Ok, ok. Maybe I did pick up some of it from our anime..." Alphys beamed with joy and pride for a moment.

"It was fun, though, right Undyne?" Alex continued with a smirk adorning their face, wiggling their eyebrows to further antagonize Undyne. If Alex weren't so badly injured, Undyne would certainly make it so. She looked angry before quickly composing herself in front of her crush.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. Maybe it wasn't terrible… up until you got kicked in the gut and shot by that as- robot while you flung me out of the way!"

"Well I wasn't just going to let you get hit with me, if that's what you mean?" Alex shrugged innocently, closing their eyes for a moment.

"Well you didn't need to 'take one for the team' Alex!" Undyne was beginning to pick up her tone in anger. Although angry at Alex for doing that, she was angrier at the fact that that asshole named Gaster would do something like that.

"H-hey guys. Calm down! It-it's over now. Let's just get back to my lab." Alphys tried to defuse the situation.

As they continued, the scenery suddenly changed to become brighter, with the earth becoming more of an orange hue. They all continued onward as they reached a sentry station that somehow had snow on top of it. Undyne frowned as they passed by it for some reason.

In front of them was a long wooded bridge over lava, which Alex noticed by going against their gut and looking down. Alex began to shake, which once again shot pain through their body as they accidentally moved their leg.

"IT'LL BE OVER QUICK ALEX. JUST LOOK AT ME. YOU'LL BE JUST FINE, I PROMISE!"

Calmed by Papyrus' words of encouragement, they did as he recommended and looked up at his face. He was remarkably calm as he walked across the bridge. They looked over at Undyne and saw that she was beginning to overheat and sweat.

"Undyne, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah I'm fine. I just overheat easily here, especially when I wear my armor. I'll be fine as soon as we reach the lab."

Once across the magma river, they all continued forward. Looking out to the left, Alex sees a conveniently placed water cooler, which must contain boiling water in this heat. Up ahead, they all reached a crossroads. In the center was a golden star, again.

Alex knew they'd only needed to touch it and they should be healed, but something strange happened. It suddenly began pulsating and flashing grey. Instantly, it imploded and disappeared, leaving only a pile of golden dust in its place. No one else seemed to notice this.

Alex sighed as they continued straight ahead. Papyrus looked down at the child in his arms with worry, but continued at his current pace. Just ahead was a large, tall white/grey building. It had a large doorway and a sign above it that read 'LAB'. This must be Alphys' lab!

Alphys took out her phone, which had a keychain attached. She grabbed hold of one of her countless keys and opened the door, which slid open in ease. The inside of the lab was much brighter and colorful then Alex thought it'd be.

The floor was made of blue tile and the walls were colored in a plain greenish paint, with no wallpaper or patterns of any kind. They all walked in, past a large monitor and a cluttered desk with a computer. They walked past a refrigerator and a large bag of… dog food?

As they continued through the lab, they all walked past a newly patched hole in the wall on their left. This whole looked massive, almost as if someone busted through it from the other side. They walked by another silver door, that led somewhere deeper into the lab, before stepping onto a moving conveyer belt.

Alex looked over and see Undyne put down Mettaton's body for a moment before following them. Napstablook stayed behind, watching their cousin's body. He looked pretty shaken up.

Here, they stepped onto another, passing by several bookshelves, a machine, another large table with a cat-lady on the wall behind it, and a personal dresser. Papyrus, following Alphys, stepped off here, next to a large blue box and a nightstand. Alphys approached the blue box and pressed a button.

Suddenly, the box spread out into a large bed, which Alphys instructed Papyrus to lay Alex upon. It was quite comfortable, but now that Alex was out of Papyrus' arms, the green magic faded and the pain returned. This caused a visible movement on their face as they winced in pain, causing a gasp from Papyrus.

"AR-ARE THEY GOING TO BE ALRIGHT?"

"Y-yes. I j-just need to get m-my magic supplies from m-my lab d-downstairs. BRB." Alex couldn't help but notice Alphys had used 'brb' in her speech, which was kinda odd, but not unheard of. Their attention then returned to their leg as Alphys ran off down another conveyer belt-like walkway.

Papyrus knelt down beside Alex and held their right hand as they laid on their back. "D-DON'T WORRY ALEX. YOU'LL BE JUST FINE. JUST HOLD ON!"

After laying there in pain for about thirty seconds, Undyne began to worry about Alex too. "Hey punk, you'll be fine! Dr. Alphys will be back any moment!"

Right on cue, Alphys appeared again, coming down the walkway with a bag of items. She put it on the nightstand beside the bed and began rummaging through it rapidly. "C'mon, c'mon!"

After several seconds of rummaging through her large bag, she pulled out some sort of cream or lotion in one hand and a syringe with some sort of liquid in the other. The bottle was white and had some sort of writing on it, but Alex was in too much pain to be able to read what it said. She nodded to toward Undyne to get her attention.

"O-ok guys, I h-have what we n-need but I'll need b-both of your help."

"What do you need from us Alphys?"

"O-ok. Papyrus, I-I'll need you to start using some of your healing magic on Alex's leg to reduce the pain while Undyne and I, um, take care of the rest."

"OK, GOTCHA!" Papyrus held both of his hands a couple inches above Alex's leg as it began to glow green again, reducing their pain greatly. Alex let out a quick sigh in relief as the pain left their body.

"A-alright, g-good. Undyne, I'll need y-you to take Alex's leg and position it straightly as I u-use the medicine to h-heal it. It's um… it's going to hurt… a lot."

"Alright. Alex, this may hurt a little bit, but hang in there. Alphys knows what she's doing!"

Alex nodded before Undyne grabbed their leg and repositioned it, resetting the bones into their proper, straight position in a single quick movement. Even with Papyrus' numbing magic, Alex yelled out in pain as it reentered their body. Their cry reached out across the entire lab as tears began to stream down their eyes. The pain was intense.

Both Papyrus and Undyne's faces began to visibly show concern upon hearing their friend's cry of pain and seeing the tears, but they continued on with their jobs. But they were both visibly shaken by the scream. Undyne held the leg in place as Alphys squeezed some green liquid out of the tube of cream.

Alphys then quickly applied the lotion/cream onto the burn wound. It began to glow a bright green as it began to rapidly heal the wound. Unlike the other healing magic or the star, this magical cream hurt. It, it actually brough Alex's pain index to an 11.

Perhaps it was a result of the rapid healing of a serious wound, which had not happened yet. Nevertheless, Alex's cries of pain only increased in frequency, length, and volume. The tears flowed quicker now as they tried as hard as they could to hold still.

As the wound began to close and heal, Alphys injected the syringe into Alex's left leg near the break in the bone. The moment the liquid within it entered their body, Alex erupted into further pain as it violently and quickly began to fuse the bone together.

Alex let out a much louder, constant scream as the tears continued rolling like a river, sending a shock into every one of the monsters around them. In pain, Alex began to struggle against the hold, trying desperately to get out of this situation even though they knew this was for the best. Every fiber of their being screamed for it to stop!

"H-hold on. W-we're almost d-done!" Alphys said this to both the pair of monsters helping her and Alex. Alphys finished injecting the liquid into the bone and quickly put the syringe onto the nightstand. Although finished with the cream and shot, Alex was still in agonizing pain.

"AHHHHHH, PL-PLEASE! IT… IT HURTS SO BAD…P-PLEASE…!"

Undyne and Papyrus' hearts began to break down upon hearing their friend begging for mercy. Alphys quickly reached back into her bag looking around for something else. Papyrus was unable to bring himself to say anything to comfort Alex, but Undyne managed to speak.

"A-ALPHYS! HOW CAN WE HELP STOP THEIR PAIN?!" Fear emanated from her voice in worry.

"H-hold on. I'm going to u-use my e-experimental compound to help them." Alphys suddenly pulled out a syringe of a glowing, red liquid. Alex looked over and had trouble reading it as their head was flooded with pain. They just wanted it to stop!

Alphys took it and injected it into Alex's left arm as soon as possible. The moment the last of the liquid entered their bloodstream, the screams ceased. Undyne and Papyrus sighed in relief in unison before noticing that Alex was now unconscious. As their sight and consciousness began to fade, Alex began to wonder what was going to happen next. Then, everything went black for them.

* * *

Alphys, Undyne, and Papyrus looked down at the unconscious human before them. Their leg wound was now closed and the leg was now straight and normal, but there remained a clear scar in its place where the beam from Mettaton impacted them. They all sighed in relief before Undyne and Papyrus began to worry about Alex, whom was screaming up until they passed out.

"D-don't worry about Alex. T-they'll be fine in a few hours…"

"THAT'S… GOOD!"

"S-so… this occurred during the fight with Mettaton? How was this possible? N-normally only souls are effected during cross-species combat…"

"Yeah, but that thing, Gaster, somehow altered the battle rules. The normal box that appears for human souls never came, and instead Alex's soul remained near them. I've never seen that happen before."

"T-the battle rules were changed? B-but they were e-established c-centuries ago. It w-would take an unbelievable amount of magic and power to alter the 'BATTLE MAGIC'!"

"Yeah. I figured something wasn't right! Alex shouldn't have been effected in certain ways during the fight. That's how we must have been able to dance and interact like that. Like a real duel! It was actually quite exciting until Alex got injured like that!"

"E-exactly. Regular duels occur like this one did, but t-that's only between foes of the same species. At least that's how it is in t-this timeline…"

"OK, I've heard all sorts of crap about timelines now, thanks to Alex, Papyrus, and Gaster! Can you explain this to me in normal English?!"

"WE'RE ALL IN A RIVER, EXCEPT SOME OF US AREN'T! AND SOME CAN LEAVE, BUT CAN ALSO RETURN. OR… SOMETHING LIKE THAT… MAYBE?" Papyrus tilted his head in thought. That was how Sans explained it, right?

Both Undyne and Alphys turn and look at Papyrus in confusion.

"WHAT? THAT'S HOW SANS EXPLAINED IT… GIVE OR TAKE A FEW WORDS."

"O-ok. I'll explain what I k-know in the main room after I plug in Mettaton in. F-for now, let's let Alex rest!" Alphys removed Alex's sweater, socks, and shoes to wash them for when they awaken.

Following Alphys' advice, Papyrus and Undyne stepped onto the moving conveyor-belt ahead of Alphys and allowed it to carry them back to the main room. They looked back at the sleeping human on the bed one last time as they continued out of the room.

Upon reentering the main room, Undyne and Papyrus watched Alphys run over to Mettaton and plug an odd cord into his back, which connected to the large monitor beside them. After this, she ran to her monitor and began running programs and interfacing with the computer.

"…oh… is Alex ok…? …I… heard some unpleasant screaming…" Napstablook finally spoke now, after everyone returned with Alex visibly not joining them.

"D-don't worry about Alex. They're just, um, resting for now."

"…oh…ok, that's good…"

After typing on the keyboard for another solid minute, a loading bar filled the screen, slowly filling, but at the current rate it would be an hour or so until it fills. Alphys then spoke after the bar appeared.

"O-ok, in about an hour, Mettaton's systems s-should be purged of any remnants of Gaster's intrusion. H-he'll be able to come back online after that!"

"…ok… thanks doc…"

"N-no problem."

"SO, YOU WERE GOING TO TELL US MORE ABOUT THE RIVER? AND GASTER!"

"Papyrus, I'm pretty sure the river was just an analogy used by Sans."

"A-anyway, as I was saying, Gaster must have somehow altered the battle magic. It was originally created to even the p-playing field in cross-species combat, but that was centuries a-ago."

"You said that it's only like this in this 'timeline'?"

"Y-yeah. Other 'timelines' or 'alternate realities' likely follow different standards of battle."

"Alright, but can you please explain all of this 'timeline' crap I keep hearing?"

"YES. I, TOO, AM QUITE CONFUSED. I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S RIVER AND WHAT'S TIME!"

"Papyrus, forget about the fu-ricking river!"

"OK, OK… NOW BE QUIET UNDYNE, ALPHYS WAS ABOUT TO SPEAK!" Papyrus held his right finder to his teeth, telling her to shush.

"…" Undyne's face tensed up at this as it slowly contorted into a face of anger. Her mouth formed an angry smile.

"A-anyway, have you ever heard of the idea of the 'multiverse'?"

Undyne loudly inhaled and exhaled for a moment before finally being calm enough to speak without shouting. "Yes, I've heard about it in some of our anime. Isn't it something like there being infinite versions of reality that could differ in any number of ways?"

"E-exactly Undyne! Yes." Undyne's slightly angry face melting into one of happiness as she blushed. In response to this, Alphys also slightly blushed.

"A-anyways, Gaster studied this concept heavily before he… disappeared. H-he was the royal scientist before me, but I c-can't really remember much about him other than his work."

Alphys began to work on her large computer for a moment, minimizing the loading screen for Mettaton, and now displaying a large amount of virtual notes written in an unreadable language. This 'language' appeared to be made up of various symbols, many of them looking like hands.

"G-Gaster designed and built the core, this lab, and the elevators. They are all built out of a magic-infused alloy based on the magic of the barrier. This allows things built out of the alloy to be, um, unalterable from the outside by anything with less power than that of seven souls."

"WOWIE! MAGIC METAL THAT PROTECTS US? THAT SOUNDS SO COOL. IS SANS' LAB LIKE THAT TOO?"

"Knowing Sans, I'd s-say it's safe to assume so."

"GREAT, THAT MEANS HE'S SAFE RIGHT NOW TOO!"

"Wait, what do you mean by 'knowing Sans'?" Undyne was thoroughly confused. Sans has only been lazy around her. Since when was he actually active and doing thing?

"W-well Sans doesn't like to talk about it, but there's a r-reason that he's so lazy. You see… he can vaguely remember or recall some events that may have been altered in our timeline. I think… no, I know he's been devoting a lot of time to trying to fix things…"

"SO, HE'S NOT JUST LAZY, HE'S… OVERWORKED AND EXHASTED?"

"Y-yeah… He doesn't want anyone else to have to carry his burden with him…"

I, I never knew…" Undyne now felt kind of bad for always hounding him so much for sleeping on the job. He must be working on some important stuff to always be so tired. That must be how he came up with a plan to save Frisk. Spending all that time working…

Alphys tried to lighten the mood by explaining more about the metal. "Anyways, so this lab and other things made from this material cannot be changed or altered by other things, like Gaster. Everyone inside is safe from everything except a 'RESET'."

"A… RESET? WHAT'S THAT?"

"T-that's when an event, or everything, is changed by someone re-doing the past. If someone RESETs, they could go back in time and change everything, which would still effect us."

"Ok Alphys, so Gaster could RESET to effect, but other than that we're perfectly safe?"

"Y-yeah… for now…" Alphys whisper the last part, meekly hoping no one heard her, but her luck didn't exist today.

"For now?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'FOR NOW'?!" Undyne was now getting frantic. Were they all still in danger? Even here?

"T-the alloy is based off of the barrier, which can only be broken with the power of seven souls, right?"

"YEAH, THAT'S THE ONLY WAY. DIDN'T THE KING HAVE SIX?"

"Yes Papyrus, but after Asgore… disappeared… the souls disappeared too… Wait, don't tell me that Gaster has them!" Undyne was not happy coming to this realization.

"W-well. Gaster must have access to the six souls that disappeared, since he's so powerful, and he certainly has F-Frisk. If he gains control of F-frisk's soul, then… He'd be able to do whatever he w-wants…" No one in the room was happy with this realization.

"W-WAIT. IF GASTER WOULD HAVE 7 WITH FRISK, WHY DOES HE ALSO WANT ALEX'S?"

"I've, uh, done some research into SOUL power, and I recently discovered something. Seven souls give the user the power to reshape the timeline… but eight allows…" Alphys gulped allowed before continuing.

"…eight allows the… creation of new timelines."

Everyone's eyes grew upon realizing the full extent Gaster's power would be if he succeeded. The power to not only control this timeline, but the power to create them… That kind of power is not meant to ever be held by a monster or a human… The room went dead silent.

After everything was silent for a minute, Papyrus broke the silence. "SO… WHAT NOW?"

"W-what was you guys' plan?" Alphys asked.

"WELL, SANS SENT US TO GET SOME MATERIALS FOR A MACHINE THAT COULD SAVE FRISK!"

"M-machine? …*GASP*! N-no, please tell me it's not the machine in y-your basement!"

"WHY? SHOULD I LIE AND SAY THAT IT'S NOT?"

"T-that machine hasn't worked… e-ever!"

"Then why did we come all of the way out here for a machine that could never work?"

"WHY DID IT NEVER WORK?"

"W-well it needed a few pieces, which I'm sure that those are what you were s-sent to get, but it lacked a c-catalyst."

"What, like to help it work faster?"

"K-kinda, but what we needed was a powerful soul to help maintain the machine as it cycled through the several stages, but it also needed to be adaptable. T-the only kind of soul that fits that description is a PURITY soul… but no one has had a PURITY soul in over a thousand years…"

"Alphys…" Undyne's eye began to open in realization.

"Y-yes Undyne?" Alphys was kinda shocked by Undyne's response.

"Alex h-" Undyne began, before being interrupted.

"OH MY GOD! ALEX HAS A PURITY SOUL! ALPHYS! ALEX'S SOUL WOULD WORK!" Papyrus shouted with joy! He jumped up and down with overflowing happiness. Undyne, on the other hand, looked about ready to attack Papyrus for being interrupted.

"Really? I-I guess that makes sense then. That's w-why Sans decided to act now, of all times."

"WAIT, YOU KNEW MORE ABOUT SANS AND HIS WORK?"

"W-well we worked together… for a while… back with Gaster."

"WOWIE, THAT'S NEAT! IS MY BRO A DOCTOR TOO?"

"N-no, but he's pretty smart. Anyway, w-what were you saying U-Undyne about a plan?"

"Alex and Papyrus came to me in Waterfall with a list of items to get. One of which is a syringe of something called 'Determination'." Alphys' face paled upon the word 'Determination' entering her… ears?

"D-d-determination? H-he must be serious then… Ok, I t-think I have a few extra vials of it. I-in fact I used a small amount of it in that shot that calmed Alex down."

"What exactly was that stuff? It calmed them down in an instant."

"It was m-my own experimental cocktail of Determination, pain pills, and combination of green and yellow magic." Alphys shook her head a moment before getting back to the task at hand. "I'll go get the vials in a moment."

"PERFECT. WE'RE HALFWAY THERE THEN!"

"W-what else do you g-guys need?"

"The punk also needs some sort of data readings from the CORE and a SOUL Canister from the capital."

"A-alright, those shouldn't be too hard to get then… I-I'll be right back. I'll go grab the vials of it from downstairs." And away Alphys went, to collect the vials of Determination. Undyne, Papyrus, and Napstablook all waited silently for the doctor's return next to the humming robotic body of Mettaton. The smaller loading bar was only about 1/3 of the way done.

* * *

The void never gets any brighter. It forever remains dark and empty, except for the being and his captive within the depths of it. This hellscape would seem like torture to many, but after being here so long, the great Doctor Gaster found it almost normal. Or, at least, as normal as an endless dark abyss could get.

The window in front of them was fuzzy and full of static, but still showed the inside of the lab quite clearly. This static was a result of the magical alloy that composed the lab. The only other places Gaster had trouble seeing into and altering was Sans' lab/basement and the elevators.

Gaster felt bad for destroying the SAVE point ealier, preventing Alex from healing. He felt this way for several reasons. Yes, he felt guilty for prolonging their pain, but it did buy him a few more hours.

No, he also felt bad because a SAVE point was made out of intense energy and Determination. This meant that it took an incredible amount of energy and magic to destroy it and remove it from the timeline. It was highly impractical and basically caused no benefit.

Sure, it slowed down Alex's progress, but the amount of time gained would now be devoted to restoring Gaster's power to what it was prior to destroying the Save Point.

Since this timeline was so unique to other timelines, Gaster was unable to predict what to do next or how to do it, leaving him having to 'wing it' as humans would say. And Gaster really hated improvising, but he was out of options.

Now beside him, Frisk was watching everything that Gaster did or said. He forced Frisk to watch the battle, holding them in place to prevent them from looking away when Alex's leg was shot and broken.

Gaster remembered the tears the flowed down Frisk's face and the anger that spawned within Gaster not been in as much control as he was, he may have almost been afraid of Frisk's capabilities.

Ah, Frisk. Gaster wished he could just pry the soul from their body and use it, but he knew what would happen if they forced this kind of thing to occur. Frisk's amount of determination would force a 'FILE LOAD' or 'RESET' upon death, but if Gaster could lower their determination enough, he would have access to his 7th soul without a 'RESET'.

"Why?! Why, why, why, why, why?! Why must you keep doing this?"

 ** _"FRISK… TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THAT THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANTED. I NEVER WANTED FOR THINGS TO GET SO OUT OF HAND, I REALLY DIDN'T."_**

"P-please… please leave Alex alone. You've hurt them so much already! Your own sons are suffering because of this!"

 ** _"I CANNOT STOP NOW. EVEN IF MY PRIMARY PLAN ISN'T ON TRACK, PLAN B IS STILL WORKING. IF I CAN'T GET ALEX AND YOUR SOULS WILLINGLY, I'LL HAVE TO RESORT TO MORE VIOLENT METHODS LIKE YOU SAW."_** Gaster pointed to the window.

 ** _"YOU STILL HAVE A CHANCE FRISK. YOU CAN STILL END THIS PEACEFULLY BY GIVING IN…"_**

Frisk coughed loudly before replying. "Go… Go to hell!"

 ** _"I'M ALREADY LIVING THERE, FRISK! THAT IS NOT WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR…*SIGH* ALRIGHT THEN…"_**

Gaster turned back around and shifted the window to look at the MTT resort next to the CORE. Inside were several bounty hunters and strong monsters, which Frisk had fought previously within the CORE. Gaster had not tried this next trick before, which he picked it up from watching other timelines.

Gaster focused on these monsters as their monster souls emerged from their bodies. Suddenly, they turned black and partially faded from view before returning within them. They all involuntarily shuddered before an odd white, pixilated fog covered their faces. Ahh… lost souls.

Gaster then silently commanded them to go toward the CORE. He very much doubted they'd stop Alex, but it would slow them down. This action took a lot less energy of of Gaster than his previous ones, but it still drained him nonetheless.

Gaster then turned his attention back to Frisk. **_"ALRIGHT FRISK, WHY DON'T WE GET TO… UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER?!"_** Gaster smiled as he approached Frisk, who had a look of horror on their face. With the energy of the other six souls within him, Gaster was now ready to resume his activity of… removing… Frisk's determination.

Frisk began to scream and cry out for help... but nobody came...

* * *

Alex sat up suddenly in bed breathing heavily. Their breath was alluding them as they continued trying to catch it. Everything around them was dark. Did they dream the whole thing up? Were they still in the orphanage? They squinted their eyes but were still unable to make out any of their surroundings.

They pushed their covers off and felt their left leg where the burn occurred in their dreams. Their leg was perfectly fine and the 'wound' was no longer there. Perhaps it really was all a dream.

They looked over to their right and made out the appearance of a lamp, which they promptly reached over for and turned on, flooding their vision with light. Upon adjusting to the much brighter room, they looked down in horror as they realized it wasn't a dream.

On their left leg, where they had been shot, was now a large, circular scar. Although it was now fully healed, which amazed Alex, it still didn't look great. Alex suddenly realized that they had also not removed their jeans, which now contained a large burnt hole in them.

Also upon looking down, they noticed they were now only in their ripped jeans and plain white t-shirt. They looked around and spotted their sweater and a new pair of jeans on the nightstand.

"Goodbye, sweet sweet jeans! You will be missed dearly!" Alex whispered to themselves in a dramatic way for no reason whatsoever.

Alex threw their legs over to the left side of the bed and stood up, barefoot, on the cold laboratory tile. They looked around for a moment before finding their grey socks and patriotic shoes, which they promptly returned onto their body.

Standing up now, Alex could see their own briefs through the hole in their jeans, which caused a depressed sigh to leave their lips. They felt that their left arm was mysteriously 'naked' and noticed the bracelet was taken off.

In worry, they ran around the bed looking for their prized bracelet before finding in on the nightstand next to their sweater and a new pair of jeans and a note. They picked it up and began reading it, curious as to who left it.

* * *

 _Alex,_

 _Sorry about the pain and stuff when we were trying to heal you…_

 _Anyway, I found an extra pair of jeans that look kind of close to yours,_

 _so I washed them for you, as well as your socks and sweater. Your bracelet_

 _also fell onto the ground so I, um, put it onto the table for you. We're up_

 _front when you wake up. Then, we'll be talk about what to do next._

 _Rest up Alex,_

 _-Dr. Alphys_

* * *

Awww, that was pretty nice of her. She got Alex a new pair of dark blue jeans to wear and washed their favorite sweater and socks. They immediately slipped on new pair of jeans, which were the perfect size, fitting just right on Alex's body.

They then picked up their sweater, which smelled nice and clean, and slipped it onto their torso. It fit snuggly and warmed them back up to a nice, warm temperature since they were no longer under covers.

They picked up their burned and torn pair from off the floor and carried it over to a nearby trashcan before stepping onto the conveyor belt, which likely led back to the front, main room where everyone was waiting. While waiting as it carried them forward, Alex ran their hands through their hair, straightening it.

After a moment, they arrived up front in the main room. Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, and Naptablook were all passed out on some chairs in front of the large monitor, which was adorned with some sort of anime that showed a woman with cat-like ears eating ice-cream with a few other people.

Alphys and Undyne's chairs were right beside each other as they leaned into each other while asleep. Seeing the cute couple sleeping against each other was both kind of funny and heartwarming.

Papyrus sat on his chair with his head at a 90-degree angle looking straight up as he snored. Napstablook just laid down sideways in his chair, sleeping quietly. Alex smiled while looking upon them as they heard footsteps coming from the other side of them.

Suddenly, Mettaton emerged from the darkness with a look of relief on his face. Seeing the color returned to the robot, Alex was not afraid of him knowing that Happstablook was in control again.

"Good morning Alex-darling, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I feel much better now."

"That is good. I- I'm truly sorry for what happened back there. One moment I was walking toward this lab and the next I was unable to control my body."

"I-it's quite alright Mettaton, that wasn't your fault. It was Gaster who hurt me, not you!"

"I know dear, I know. But I can't help but feel guilty. I should have fought back harder…"

Alex interrupted Mettaton, "But you DID fight back. You gave me the idea to dance back there, which really helped buy us time."

Mettaton couldn't help but laugh at that. "Thanks Darling, you really were quiet the dancer! Maybe one day we can perform together. Once we get Frisk back, of course!"

Alex nodded before looking over at their sleeping friends. "What happened while I was out? Wait, how long was I out?"

"Well… You were unconscious for about five hours. After they healed you, they must have come back here and talked about your plan to rescue Frisk. I rebooted just as Alphys started up some anime for them to watch as the waited for you to wake up."

"Haha, that's pretty sweet of them… I didn't know they all cared so much for me…"

"Of course they do, darling! Now, why don't you help me wake them up. They fell asleep about an hour ago. Plenty of time for a nap."

Alex nodded as both they and Mettaton walk over to Papyrus and Napstablook and wake them up. Papyrus, upon waking up, immideatly picked Alex up in a hug and embraced them with a wide smile painted across their face.

"ALEX! YOU'RE AWAKE! YOU HAD US SO WORRIED!" Papyrus' screams of joy awoke Alphys and Undyne without any need of further action. They both brightly blushed upon realizing they were sleeping so close to one another.

"UNDYNE! ALPHYS! LOOK! ALEX WOKE UP AND IS OK!" Papyrus looked to be tearing up from his overflow of joy.

"Papyrus, are you crying?"

"NO, I SIMPLY, UM, CAUGHT SOMETHING IN MY EYE! YES, THAT'S IT!"

"Oh yeah, sure! And what did you catch in your eye?!"

"SADNESS!*SNIFFLE*" Tears then began to flow down his skull as he shook Alex from side to side in their tight embrace. Breathing became much harder for Alex during this display.

"O-ok Papyrus. P-put Alex down, they've just healed after all."

"R-RIGHT! HERE YOU GO ALEX!"

"T-thanks Papyrus. I. I appreciate. The hug." Undyne ran over and began to noogie the two of them again, much to their protest.

"Owww!" "DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON OR THE HUMAN! OOOUUCH!"

"HAHAHAHA, Calm done you weenies."

After they all shared another laugh, Alphys spoke up. "S-so Alex… H-how do you feel after that, um… ordeal?"

Alex stood on their tiptoes and stretched out as much as they could. "I feel pretty great, I guess. Other than the scar and burnt jeans, I couldn't tell that I'd been injured. You all did a great job..." Alex went quiet for a moment before continuing. Now with tears forming in their eyes.

"I-I've never had so many people care about me before like this. *sniffle* T-thanks everyone so much…" Tears now began to flow down Alex's face as they sobbed tears of joy from all of this.

They all, Mettaton, Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus, and Napstablook, came over and hugged Alex. Group hug time. This embrace of friends made Alex feel loved, and they enjoyed every moment of the hug.

Alex remained in the embrace of their new friends for another moment before they all mutually ended it and began to get back to business. Alphys' began first.

"A-aright, Alex. They all filled me into you and Sans' plan. Here, take these…" Alphys handed Alex two vials of a clearish red liquid that pulsated and alternated between producing no light and glowing brightly.

"I-it's two vial of Determination. One for the machine, a-and one for a… last resort, maybe?"

"What do you mean by 'last resort'? What could this stuff do?"

"W-well, if injected into a human, it'll temporattily fill them with Determination, making you stronger and more powerful. Since you have a Purity soul, y-you may be even able to temporarily alter time with it in your bloodstream…"

Alex's eyes widened in response. With this liquid, they could alter time? That's cool! Alphys continued, "…but the effects last a short amount of time, so use it wisely. Save the second one to use in the machine."

Alex nodded as they put the vials safely into their pockets. It was now time to figure out what to do next!

"SO, ARE WE READY TO CONTINUE ON, FRIENDS?!"

"A-actually Papyrus, if I may explain what I w-was thinking... Napstablook, I-I think you should accompany Mettaton back to Waterfall to make sure Gaster doesn't try anything there."

"…oh, but what if Gaster… you know… possessed one of us…?"

"M-Mettaton, with his new upgrade should be much harder to hack into now, and, um… you're a ghost Blooky, so you, um, can't… can't be possessed."

"…oh yeah… I am a ghost, aren't I…?"

"Ok, Alphys darling. We'll make sure nothing happens in Waterfall!" The two cousins then left the lab back toward Waterfall. That left Papyrus, Undyne, Alex, and Alphys.

"A-alright, Alex and Undyne, you two continue towards the CORE to collect the readings before you then get to the Capital. Queen Toriel will help you get the SOUL Capsule."

"WAIT, WHAT ABOUT ME?!"

"O-oh, Papyrus, could you stay here with me to help with some, um… heavy lifting?"

"HEAVY… LIFTING? WHY NOT ASK UNDYNE? SHE'S STRONGER?"

"What Papyrus, are you saying you're not tough enough as the captain of the Royal Guard to help the Royal Scientist?" Alex could tell Undyne was baiting Papyrus much like he did to her earlier.

"W-WHAT?! O-OF COURSE NOT! FINE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL HELP HER MAJEST'S ROYAL SCIENTIST PERFORM HER… UMM… ROYAL SCIENTIST DUTIES! NYEHEHEHEHE!"

Alphys shot a look of appreciation to Undyne as she told Papyrus to follow her to the back.

"G-good luck you t-two!"

"YES! HAVE GOOD LUCK. I'LL SEE YOU AS SOON AS I FINISH HERE!"

"See ya soon Alphys!" Undyne was blushing again as her 'friend' walked off.

"O-of course. Papyrus, C-c'mon!" And with that, they left toward the backroom. Undyne then knelt down on one knee in front of Alex, who was smirking after seeing her blush.

"NOT. A. WORD." Undyne had a very serious expression, but Alex struggled hard not to laugh or grin, which would only upset her more than she already was. "Alright punk, let's get going!"

The two of them walked side-by-side out through the main entrance before turning right, down one of the paths Alex had noticed earlier. After choosing this path, the quickly reached an elevator. Above it was a large letter and number, saying 'L1'.

Alex pressed the up-arrow for the elevator to call it down, which arrived fairly quickly. Guess no one else was using them right now. It was eerily quiet all around them, now that Alex thought about it. They both climbed inside as Alex looked in confusion at the floor choices.

Undyne sighed. "I know; it is quite annoying. Bet it was Gaster that made this hunk of junk!"

Undyne reached out and pressed the button labeled 'R3', which caused the doors to shut tightly as the elevator shot upwards toward their destination.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Alright, thanks for continuing to read my tale of Alex's quest to save Frisk. I hope you continue to enjoy reading my story as it unfolds. I apologize for this going up later than intended. There's been some less-then-ideal weather nearby, my internet's been dumb, and FanFiction hasn't been very nice to Undertale these last few days. Anyway, this chapter is longer than the others, mostly 'cause I had a lot of stuff I wanted to put into it. The adventure will continue next Monday, unless it has already arrived, in which case you're probably about to click the 'next' button. Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy it. Leave a review, or a private message, if you have anything to say or ask. Have fun with your lives!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	13. The Core

The elevator kept going for a good thirty seconds, both riders remaining silent the entire time, before it gave off the all-too-well-known ding, notifying its passengers that they had reached their destination. They stepped off of the elevator and back into the heat of Hotland, but they were much higher up now.

After stepping off the elevator, the pair turned right down the only available path, completely ignoring some orange-star-like monster who was just… standing there with their mouth ajar. Perhaps something surprised them. The monster noticed Alex and Undyne and shot them a smile before returning to gawk at nothing.

They walked down the path before reaching a crossroad, but Undyne led Alex to the right, which had a bunny monster standing beside a food cart and a pair of armored guards eating ice-cream. Undyne noticed the guards, who upon noticing her, looked back down and continued eating their ice-cream. They also appeared to be holding hands.

Alex walked up to the bunny next to the food cart and asked him, "Whatcha selling, mister?"

His ears perked up seeing Alex and Undyne. "Oh, a customer. I'm selling Nice Cream. It's the frozen treat that warms your heart!" Alex liked that jingle/catchphrase.

"How much for, um…" Alex looked behind them to see Undyne patiently waiting to continue, although she was also starting to look annoyed. "…how much for two?"

"It's normally 15G per bar, but since you're friends with Undyne and you're a first time customer, I'll let you have a set on the house!"

"R-really?! Thanks mister!"

"No problem. Have a Nice day!" The Nice Cream Man put on a huge, genuine smile as he gave Alex two Nice Creams. One was chocolate and the other was Pistachio. Alex walked beck over to Undyne with a huge grin painted across their face. Alex offered one to her.

"Nah, I'm good kid. You can have 'em!" Undyne put on a small, genuine smile before they continued on your way. Alex unwrapped the chocolate Nice Cream and ate it, and it was pretty fricking good. There was a message on the inside of the wrapper, which Alex read as they ate the nice-cream.

 _"You look nice today!"_ Alex smiled.

 ***Your HP was Maxed out**

Alex and Undyne continued down the path, which suddenly changed scenery, appearing now very dark. Before then now appeared a hotel/resort with a large sign that said "MTT" above the door in gold, joined by a pair of golden, square robot-angels on either side. Alex looked at Undyne expectantly, waiting for her to explain what the building was.

"*sigh* This is Mettaton's hotel and resort: The MTT Resort. Don't worry, we're just heading through quickly. The CORE is just beyond the building."

They both entered the building through the large main entrance and inside was truly spectacular. The inside was painted in bright colors and the floor had a real Red Carpet. Alex had only seen these on TV, where only famous people could walk. They'd always wanted to walk on a red carpet.

Undyne rolled her eyes as she noticed the shine within Alex's. Before she could remind Alex that they had to leave towards the CORE, Alex took off to explore. They couldn't help themselves, though. After all, they always were a natural explorer with an abnormally large curiosity.

Undyne yelled after Alex as she took off after them inside the resort. All of the many monsters who were here stared at this display in either confusion or enjoyment. It was quite funny, but Undyne didn't think so.

* * *

After a long scolding from Undyne about running off for no reason, the pair of adventurers finally walked through the back exit of the resort. This large double door had the word 'CORE' written above it on a neon sign. The text was orange and the outline was green. Undyne walked slightly ahead of Alex as she opened the doors and allowed them to walk outside.

Once outside, Alex noticed some bushes on either side of them and a wooden pathway that led to a large futuristic-looking building. About 2/3rds of the way down the path, the wood somehow merged into metal pipes. Likely made of the magical metal alloy as well. One thing was for sure about the CORE. It was freaking huge!

Undyne continued walking forward, her metal armor making clanging sounds against the pipes as she walked. Alex followed her closely as they entered a large doorway with glowing blue lights adorning it. Alex highly doubted that any of this building was simply for show.

They knew in their gut that this place was flowing with energy. In fact, they could feel it too. The moment they entered the mostly-blue building they could feel a sort of energy flowing through the air and filling it. This place was very, very powerful. No doubt about that.

All around them were cables and wires adorning the blue walls. There was an elevator directly in front of them and a door on either side of it. There were also periodic windows or screens that showed either text in green or more wires.

"Alright kid, you know where we need to go for those readings?"

"I-I think we have to try to go as deep inside as we can."

"Alright, Alphys has shown me around this place before, so I think I know a good spot."

They then walked down and through the left door. This next room they walked through had odd pillar looking things with red glass atop them. Three of them were on each side. They ignored them as they walked through a large doorway with a cool design over it.

The next room contained a long glass walkway over a dark pit. Alex couldn't see the bottom if they tried. Both sides had more of the pillars. Undyne sighed and grabbed Alex's hand, gripping it tightly, before continuing.

They continued walking and found another bridge. Undyne held tightly to Alex's hand as they walked over this bridge as well. Undyne tried to comfort Alex by telling them to focus on the end of the bridge. It helped somewhat.

Finally, now inside the deeper part of the core, Alex could see the darkness below turn into a bright mist far below them. The air smelt odd and it felt full of electricity. Alex's eye were opened fully, trying to take in the massive interior of the Core.

The pair waled straight ahead until they found, over to their left, a set of four pillars in the middle of the mist. This seemed like the spot to take the readings. Alex took out the machine they were given by Sans and pressed a trigger-like switch on the bottom of it, aiming the device towards the center of the four pillars.

 _"BEEP. BEEP. INSTABILITY WARNING. INSTABILITY WARNING. TIME IRREGULARITIES DETECTED."_

Alex and Undyne's jaws were a jar for a few seconds before they fully comprehended what the machine had just said. "So, did it just say 'time irregularities'?" Alex nodded.

"So, umm, that's probably not good, right?" Before Alex could shrug, they heard some o=sounds approaching from the hallway behind them. As they turned around, the world flashed black and white before them as the familiar 'battle options' flashed before Alex.

* * *

You turned around and saw three monsters before you… but something was off about these monsters. The first appeared very similar to one of the froggits from the ruins, except this one had armor, and a strange fog hid its face. The fog could only be described as glitch and unstable. They other two monsters shared this odd fog.

The one in the middle looked very similarly to a Loox, which you had spotted in the ruins as well. The final monster on the right looked like one of the flying monsters called Whimsums, except this one wore armor as well. They all stood before you with the glitch fog over their faces.

You turned to Undyne, who was just as confused as you. She named all of them for you. They froggit-like monster was called 'Final Froggit', the middle one was called 'Astigmatism' and the on on the right was called 'Wimsalot'.

You then noticed that, once again, your soul was not confined within a box and was just inches from your chest. Guess Gaster's changes were permanent, rather than just for that single fight…

 ***What a nightmare!**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[FINAL FROGGIT] [ASTIGMATISM] [WHIMSALOT]**

You are shocked that simple 'ACT' options were not appearing, and instead were replaced with the monsters' names. Undyne spoke up, "Alex, you're battling three monsters at once! Be careful. They don't look able to control themselves." You nodded in understanding.

 ***An returning option accompanies the names in the ACT menu.**

You nodded and returned to your choices.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[FINAL FROGGIT] [ASTIGMATISM] [WHIMSALOT] *[PURIFY]**

 ***Your soul resonates with the monsters' souls.**

 ***Nothing happened.**

 ***Looks like they are too out of it to be PURIFIED**

The three of them spoke as they their attacks prepared to be launched.

 _"Robbit, robbit" "Take your last look" "I've made my choice."_

Before any of the attacks launch, you called out to Undyne for help. You remind her of the battle with Mettaton Neo, and she nods in understanding. She focuses on your left arm, which sprouts the magical green shield once more. Only half of your soul turns green, permitting movement.

Suddenly, a large number of white butterflies appear out of nowhere and begin circling you, counterclockwise, at a distance. They do not appear to harm you unless you get too close, so you keep your distance. As you steady yourself in the center with ' **The Clavicle'** in your right hand and the shield in you left, you see the rest of them join in the fight.

Many, many fly-like projectiles and many, many large orbs begin to flood the battlefield before you. You called for Undyne to help you, but you see something is preventing her interruption in this fight. Gaster, the likely cause of this fight, has more than likely learned to keep other out of the fights.

You roll dodge to the left as an orb hit where you where standing. Instead of dissipating like previous projectiles, these ones simply bounced up and prepared to continue chasing you. You saw some flies swarm at you, but you brought your shield up in between you and the projectiles.

They hit the shield and disintegrated, but the impact sent you back a few feet. Luckily, this was good since if caused you to inadvertently dodge a handful of orbs again. As the orbs can for you a third time, you jumped to the side and used your sword to slice them into pieces.

…Unfortunately, they ended up exploding as a result, sending you flying back a few feet with new bruises. Luckily, the blast was the end of the attacks, allowing you to stand back up and choose what to do next.

 ***HP 17/20**

At least these attacks weren't as powerful as Mettaton's.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***[FINAL FROGGIT] [ASTIGMATISM] [WHIMSALOT] [PURIFY]**

 **CHECK COMPLIMENT THREATEN *MYSTIFY**

 ***You did something mysterious. Final Froggit shudders, recognizing it has more to learn from this world.**

 ***It tried to regain its composure.**

 ***You notice the fog around Final Froggit's face shudder and fade momentarily before returning to normal.**

 _"(Thoughtful croak)" "You've pushed your luck." "No regrets"_

Undyne recovered from using her magic to create the shield as she jumped into the battle to aid you. The same attack was set up again. The butterfly ring reappeared, but began to spin faster and also looked a lot smaller than before, being much closer to you.

Then, the flies and orbs returned and began to chase you. The flies were less numerous while the number of orbs nearly doubled. Luckily, Undyne's presence caused about half of the attacks and projectiles to aim at her.

Once again, you rolled to the side as the first of the orbs approached you. They expected this and followed you closely after bouncing off the ground. You sprinted around the battlefield in a large circle, slamming your shield into passing by flies to be rid them.

You occasionally jumped to the left or right as the orbs nearly hit you, but you successfully avoided them. This time, you learned for your past mistake and put the sword away so as not to be tempted to cut the orbs apart again and injure yourself. Undyne was grinning at your success so far.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[FINAL FROGGIT] [ASTIGMATISM] *[WHIMSALOT] [PURIFY]**

 **CHECK CONSOLE TERRORIZE *PRAY**

 ***You kneel and pray for safety. Whimasalot remembers its conscience.**

 ***The fog around Whimsalot's face shuddered momentarily.**

 ***It seemed you were causing these monsters to fight back against their controller.**

 _"Skip, jump." "You've seen enough." "There's still hope."_

The attack setup was the same as before, except now the ring of butterflies expanded and spun more slowly. The number of flies were still small, but the number of orbs was still worrying. You took off again as you tried to dodge their attacks.

As you rolled left and right, dodging the orbs, you spot a single butterfly separate from the ring and head towards the center of the battlefield. This one, though, was green like healing magic. You dodged another attack of orbs to try to collect the butterfly. Undyne threw a spear, causing many orbs between you and the butterfly to explode harmlessly, clearing the path.

As soon as you touched it, you felt slightly rejuvenated as your HP slightly recovered. You shot Undyne a grateful smielas she returned it quickly before returning to fight off the orbs.

 ***HP 18/20**

You continued running and dodge the orbs while using your shield to slam the fly projectiles into dust. After another few seconds, the projectiles vanished, allowing you to make another move.

 ***Both Final Froggit and Whimsalot are rebelling against their controller.**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[FINAL FROGGIT] *[ASTIGMATISM] [WHIMSALOT] [PURIFY]**

 **CHECK PICK-ON DON'T-PICK-ON *CHALLENGE**

 ***You stand up to Astigmatism. They appear unsettled. The glitch fog shuddered.**

"(Impressed croak)" "You dare defy me?" "Courage…"

This time, no butterflies of flies appeared. You looked forward and saw both Final Froggit and Whimsalot struggling to do anything. They are both shaking and convulsing. It seems your actions were causing a rebellion. Knowing Gaster, he was probably not taking this very well.

Astigmatism also seemed to be struggling against Gaster's control, or whatever he did to them. Unfortunately, Astigmatism continued to attack This time the orbs were different though.

This time, the orbs were in groups of 3, in the form of a chain, as they spun either clockwise or counterclockwise as the approached in large numbers from your right. You immediately jumped and rolled forward as a chain pass by your previous position. You saw, much further back, a wall of these chains.

You continued to roll left and right with Undyne, dodging the many chains. You now noticed how close the wall really was. You held your shield in front of you and closed your eyes as the wall impacted, expecting it to shatter your shield and body, but it never hit. You opened your eyes to see the attack was over, but your shield was gone.

You felt lucky, but only for a moment before realizing what had happened. You looked down to see a severly injured Undyne laying on the floor. There was smoke coming off of her armor as she lay on the ground, still as a statue. Your eyes began to water, seeing your friend on the ground injured because they took the hit for you.

The tears that fell caused something to stir in Astigmatism, causing them to now rapidly shake and quiver, fighting off Gaster's control along side the other two monsters. You'd finish them off before helping undyne!

Wait! No! You allowed the options to sit in front of you for a minute before acting. Allowing yourself to calm down before doing anything rash. It wasn't their fault. Gaster did this. He likely wanted Undyne dead after what she'd done to help you so far.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[FINAL FROGGIT] [ASTIGMATISM] [WHIMSALOT] *[PURIFY]**

 ***Your soul began resonating in front of your body.**

 ***Your soul resonates with the monster's souls.**

 ***…**

 ***Suddenly, their souls shine brightly, removing all darkness from it.**

 ***Their control comes flooding back to them.**

The glithcy fog around their heads dissipates and leaves them with shocked expressions. You quickly spare them as the world regains all of its colors. You saw no sign of dust from where you stood, but that only meant that she wasn't already dead. As this occurs, you run over to Undyne's side to see how she was.

* * *

Alex kneeled beside Undyne and called over the three monsters you had just battled with. The three monsters rushed to Alex's side before helping to flip Undyne over onto her back. Their eyes all widened upon seeing the damage done. There was now a large gash across her chest plate, allowing Alex to see that the tank top she had worn earlier was beneath it.

Alex looked into their pockets frantically to search for something to help Undyne. Worry was splashed across all of their faces as Undyne remained unresponsive.

Suddenly, Alex felt a cold item in their pocket. They took it out and saw it was the Pistachio-flavored Nice Cream. It was pretty astounding that it had not melted yet, but Alex simply accepted that it was magic and unwrapped it.

If this magical food can heal me, Alex reasoned, then it should also heal Undyne. Alex unwrapped it completely and shoved it into Undyne's mouth. As the cold Nice Cream entered her mouth, it began to melt and evaporate in her mouth, likely being absorbed into her body.

Alex could feel her armor cooling down as it continued to be absorbed. After a moment, it was all gone and you waited patiently for something to happen. Anything. As Alex waited longer and longer for her to do something, the four people began to become more and more worried.

Suddenly, she gasped as her eyes opened. The three monsters cheered aloud upon seeing Undyne being alright. "Ahhhhh, ooucch. Wh-what happened? Are you alright Al-"

Before she could finish her thought, Alex wrapped their arms around Undyne as far as they could, enveloping her in a hug. Alex couldn't see her face since they closed their eyes while hugging her, but she had a light blush on her face as her mouth remained ajar. She closed her mouth and patted Alex lightly on the back.

Then, as her sense of smell and taste returned, she noticed the unmistakable taste of pistachio Nice Cream I her mouth. She sat up fully now and pulled Alex off gently. "Hey punk! Did you heal me with Pistachio Nice Cream?"

Alex blushed lightly and nodded their head meekly.

"T-thanks Alex…" Undyne looked down at the ground for a moment, feeling ashamed for almost telling Alex that she hated Pistachio Nice Cream. She decided against revealing this in order to cheer up Alex and because she WAS grateful that they'd tried to heal her.

She stood up before looking down at Alex's adorable face. "Alright kid, we got the readings we needed, right?"

Alex looked down a looked at the machine they had used earlier. It now had the words 'Anomaly Results Collected' on the screen in a large font. Alex nodded to Undyne after reading that.

"Great! Now, we need to get to the Capital!" Before Undyne began to move, she then noticed the three monsters before her. They all had sorrow in their eyes. It looks like Alex had successfully broke them free of their control. Whimsalot was the first to speak.

"M-miss Undyne. We're sorry about what happened…" Whimsalot said this in a sad tone, although its face was covered by a helmet, they probably had some sort of frown underneath.

Astigmatism continued Whimsalot's train of thought, "W-We weren't able to help it. Something corrupted and took over us a few hours ago…"

Final Froggit seemed to agree with what the other two monsters nodding and saying, "Robbit, robbit!"

Alex then began to respond to them. "Hey, it's not your fault. It's ok." They seemed eased by Alex's encouraging words. Undyne took a step before falling back to her knees. Everyone rushed back to her side.

"Dammit! I-I'm too badly injured. I'm going to need more than just some Nice Cream to heal me."

"The Queen!" Shouted the three monsters in unison. Except Final Froggit. For, you know, obvious reasons.

Alex tilted their head. "The queen? Queen Toriel?"

Astigmatism responded, "Yes. The Queen has mastered healing magic. She can certainly help you, Undyne." Undyne sighed in agreement as Alex nodded.

The three other monsters and Alex worked together to pick up Undyne and they carried her down the path behind them, down a corridor. After walking some ways, you approached a bridge over more of the odd mist.

Despite Alex's fear threatening to take control, they put on a brave face as they worked with the others to carry Undyne across. That's when they all heard a roar.

Now, across the bridge and next to another glowing doorway with the same cool symbol as before, they turned around to see two new monsters on the other side of the bridge.

One looked like a large knight with a face on the chest plate. The other was a magician-looking monster who was floating in the air between two odd orbs. Both of them had the strange, glitchy white mist on their faces. They didn't look ready to let Alex and Undyne leave just yet.

Astigmatism and Final Froggit left Undyne to be carried by Alex and Whimsalot, who continued through the doorway into a moderate-sized black room. They must be close to the exit. As soon as they went through the doorway, Whimsalot rushed away to rejoin their friends.

Alex told Undyne to wait a moment as they ran back toward the other room. They were about to enter, when the door suddenly shut tightly. Alex could hear a fight going on beyond the door in the other room. They banged on it, when they heard Astigmatism speak.

"Human, take Undyne to the Capital. We'll hold off Knight Knight and Madjick. Just go!"

Alex wanted to help them. They knew Gaster wasn't going to spare them, but they also knew that if they waited too much longer, then Gaster would get them too. Reluctantly, Alex returned to Undyne's side as they helped her trudge through the room and the next hallway, arriving shortly at another elevator.

Alex pressed the up-arrow button and waited only a moment before the door opened. They immediately brought Undyne inside and pressed the button labeled 'New Home'.

The doors slid shut in front of you as the elevator began its ascent. The two of them sat in the elevator in silence.

Alex knew, deep down, that those monsters had just sacrificed themselves to help a human they barely knew. It almost brought a tear to their eye, but they fought it. Looking over, they noticed Undyne was not in good shape, as she had definitely slipped back into unconsciousness.

The elevator dinged as it came to a stop. The doors opened to reveal a mostly black-and-white alleyway. This must be New Home.


	14. New Home and the Queen

Frisk was sobbing. Here in the dark, emptiness of the void, the only sounds heard from within was the cries of a human child, no more than the age of 12. Gaster knew exactly why the human was upset. It wasn't because of his attempts to lower their determination, though that certainly didn't help.

No, they were crying because they had witnessed Gaster's lost souls nearly killing Undyne. They were crying because Alex was going through so much to try to save them. Gaster, however, was not the least bit remorseful. In fact, he was pissed right now.

Not only did Alex free three of the Lost Souls, but those monsters had now prevented the battle that would have finally killed Alex. Gaster had run completely out of patience at this point.

Before, he had been bent on solving this peacefully and without much damage to the timeline, but now… now Gaster didn't care how much damage he caused. He'd resort to killing everyone in the timeline if it meant the success of his plan. However, genocide wasn't going to solve his problems.

Still staring at the window into reality, looking down upon the five dueling monsters, he raised his hand above the window and uttered, **_"NO MERCY."_**

Hearing the command, the Lost Soul of Madjick used their orbs to freeze the three opposing monsters in place. As this occurred, the Lost Soul of Knight Knight swung their weapon at full force, hitting each of the three monsters repeatedly.

Frisk noticed this and cried out to Gaster, "NOOO! PLEASE!*sob* Don't do thiiissss!" Gaster ignored them as the Lost Soul swung three times. "Plleeaasssee! NOooooo!" After the three swings Final Froggit, Whimsalot, and Astigmatism all fell down and turned to dust.

Gaster remained emotionless as they turned around to face the child, who was now sobbing even harder. Frisk noticed their emotionless expression and became to feel their sadness transform into anger. They began to shout.

"HOW COULD YOU… YOU… YOU MONSTER!" Gaster simply nodded at this accusation as if he agreed.

"They… THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG! YOU- YOU MURDERED THEM!"

Gaster held up his right hand, silencing the child. **_"THIS IS ON YOU, FRISK!"_** Gaster pointed at Frisk, while his emotionless face became one of accusation.

 ** _"I WARNED YOU THAT IF YOU DIDN'T TAKE MY DEAL, EVERYTHING I DID NEXT WOULD BE ON YOUR HANDS! YOU HAD A CHANCE TO PREVENT THIS!"_** Gaster looked Frisk in the eyes. Frisk was not backing down though.

"You LIAR! All you do is hurt others! You say you want to save us? FROM WHAT? They only thing we all need to be saved from is YOU!", Frisk rebutted.

Gaster's face was now back to being furious. **_"THIS PAIN? THIS SUFFERING? IT'S ALL POINTLESS IN THE END! I'M HURTING THEM BECAUSE YOU AND ALEX HAD TAKEN AWAY ALL OF THE ALTERNATIVES!"_**

"ALTERNATIVES? What, like us allowing you to kill us both and using our souls to become a god? To give you the power to wipe away or create timelines on a whim?"

 ** _"YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE, DO YOU?"_** Gaster sighed and calmed down for a moment before continuing with an explanation.

 ** _"DON'T YOU WONDER HOW I KNEW ABOUT METTATON NEO, WHICH YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT?"_** Frisk, still angry, nodded slowly.

 ** _"THIS… THIS PLACE IS LIKE A PRISON! I'M STUCK HERE WITHOUT A WAY TO EVER LEAVE! BUT… THIS PLACE HAS A SINGLE PERK. I CAN SEE OTHER TIMELINES… OTHER WORLDS…"_**

The anger in Frisk had slightly decreased as they thought about this. Gaster could see other timelines and realities? What has he seen? Gaster continued with his explanation, getting louder.

 ** _"I'VE SEEN WHAT LIES OUTSIDE US FRISK! I'VE SEEN THE BEINGS WITH THE POWER TO DESTROY EVERYTHING! …I'VE SEEN WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO TIMELINES LIKE OURS!"_**

Gaster was beginning to get emotional. Frisk had never seen anything of the sort from Gaster before.

 ** _"YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO THESE TIMELINES? HUH?! THEY ARE DESTROYED! EVERY SINGLE SOUL WITHIN THEM ARE KILLED! EVERY PIECE OF MATTER IS DESTROYED! THERE IS NOTHING LEFT BEHIND EXCEPT VOID… VOID LIKE THIS!"_** Gaster motioned around them.

A tear formed in Gaster's right eye before quickly disappearing. Frisk finally began to understand Gaster's motivations. They seemed good, but then… Gaster continued.

 ** _"I'M DOING ALL OF THIS TO PREVENT IT FROM HAPPENING TO US TO! WITH THIS POWER I CRAVE, I WILL HAVE THE POWER TO DESTROY THEM! I COULD BECOME GOD OVER THE TIMELINES!"_**

"Why go through all of this? If there are other realities out there, then there must be other Gasters, right? Why didn't any of them do this?" Gaster had a wicked smile begin to form on his face. His sadness was changing into something more diabolical now.

 ** _"THE OTHER GASTERS NEVER HAD ALEX. THEY NEVER HAD A PURITY SOUL! ALEX IS AN ANOMALY, FRISK, A MISTAKE!"_** The anger surged back into frisk. **_"BUT THIS MISTAKE WILL BE THE KEY TO MY POWER. UNFORTUNATELY, SINCE THEY'RE A UNIQUE ANOMALY, I HAVE NO DATA TO GO ON…"_**

"DON'T CALL THEM THAT! Alex is NOT a MISTAKE! Their not just some sort of data for you to analyze!" The anger surging within Frisk was filling them with Determination, causing their soul to burn bright red. The black shackles of darkness were torn apart by their anger and determination. Frisk was now free, but still in the void with Gaster.

Gaster looked slightly alarmed by this, but then hid this with another grin. He held his hands out in front of him and shot more darkness at Frisk, pushing them against another wall of darkness, which struggled to recapture them.

"L-let me go! You're done Gaster! I'm not letting you use me to become some sort of deity!"

 ** _"MAYBE NOT NOW, BUT SOON IT WON'T MATTER. ONCE I GET ALEX'S SOUL, YOUR DETERMINATION WILL BE TOO INFERIOR TO DO ANYTHING TO HINDER ME."_**

Gaster flicked his wrists, forcing more darkness to envelope Frisk, silencing them for now. This nearly choked them, but he relented and allowed Frisk to catch their breath.

Gaster almost used the darkness to kill Frisk out of anger, but then remember what he was doing and stopped.

If he killed Frisk, it would force a 'File Load' due to their Determination. If he could get Alex, though… then his determination would not only match Frisk's, but would be enough to completely counter them. Gaster turned back around and focused on window into reality once more, focusing on Alex and Undyne in an elevator.

Gaster didn't currently have the energy to overpower Undyne due to her sheer amount of determination, but Gaster had a plan. The window's frame shifted to show Sans working on the nearly completed machine. The window's vision was hazy due to the alloy in the lab…

…but as soon as Sans stepped out of the Lab, Gaster would activate his trap. Then… Alex was in for a bad time…

* * *

After taking in the black-and-white scenery outside of the elevator, Alex turned their attention back to Undyne, who was still unconscious and leaning against the opposing wall of the elevator. Alex walked to Undyne's side and threw her right arm over them to try to bring her further.

She was lighter than she seemed, but still quite heavy due to her armor, so Alex struggled to walk down the hallway before them. They quickly passed by another glowing gold star, but Alex ignored it, figuring that they didn't need healing and no one else could see them, much less probably use them.

They walked slowly through the next hallway, looking out over a monochrome city. After continuing forwards for what seemed like an eternity, they reached a turn in the road. After walking even further, Alex saw a sight that was very familiar.

The building before them bared many similarities to the house in the Ruins, except everything was colorless, even the leaves. Then they felt like something else was off. Then it hit them, the large, black, and leafless tree didn't exist here. Instead, slightly beyond where the tree was in the other place was another golden star.

Alex was exhausted now. They trudged forward with Undyne past the star, leaving it alone as well, before arriving at the front door. Though that last leg of the journey was merely a dozen or two feet, all of Alex's energy was drained. Alex accidentally dropped Undyne a pile of leaves next to a window out of exhaustion.

Now freed of this burden, Alex took another step and knocked on the door loudly, twice. Suddenly, Alex heard a female voice speaking through the door. "Who's there?"

Alex couldn't help but feel that the Queen was setting them up for a knock, knock joke, so Alex decided to craft one quickly. Perhaps this was required to open the door? Alex was unsure, but spoke anyway.

"Wood."

"Wood who?"

"Would who please open the door?"

Alex heard laughter from the other side of the door from the Queen. Alex couldn't help but be proud of themselves for coming up with that joke so quickly, but the fatigue quickly returned to them. The laughter began to calm down as she opened the door.

Before them was a large female goat-like monster. Her fur was pure white and she had small horns atop her head. She wore a purple cape with golden shoulder pad-looking things. Adorning her head was a small crown, signifying that this was, in fact, the Queen.

Her smiling, laughing face quickly turned to one of shock as she noticed the human child before her. She had probably not expected to see a human.

"L-little one, wha… who…" She quickly composed herself. "Who are you, young one?"

"I'm Alex, y-your… majesty?"

She began to smile warmly. "You may call me Toriel, my child." The way she looked at them and spoke radiated with love and compassion. She then noticed the scrapes and bruises all over Alex's arms, there were even one or two on their face. They noticed that one on your cheek was still bleeding, which Alex hadn't noticed due to adrenaline.

"W-what happened, my child? Did some… did someone hurt you?" A quick flash of anger appeared in her eyes, which she tried to quickly hide. Alex felt that, as a mother, she was probably very protective.

"Y-yes… But I need help. M-my friend… she's hurt pretty bad."

"Where is she?"

Alex pointed to their left, and as Toriel peered around the corner of the door-frame, her mouth opened widely, seeing the unconscious Undyne in the leaves. She looked like she was about to question them on what happened, but then she noticed how unresponsive she was, which caused her to move much more quickly.

She picked Undyne up easily and brought her inside as Alex followed closely. The inside, much like the outside, was almost an exact replica of the house in the Ruins. The only real difference was the lack of color. They turned right and went down the hallway to enter the room that was probably another kid's bedroom.

They entered the room Queen Toriel laid Undyne on red on the far side of the room. Because of her height, he feet went slightly past the end of the bed. Now that she was laying on the bed, the Queen asked Alex to wait with her for a moment as she left the room in a hurry.

She came back in within seconds, her cape was gone and Alex saw a type of robe on her now. She bent over Undyne as her hands/paws began to glow a bright green. She brought them down over the slash on her armor as the light seeped inside. The light was green like Undyne's magic, but much lighter. And much softer too.

The amount of magic used was astounding, even Undyne's blue scales began to have a faint green hue to them as the magic spread across her whole body. She was still unconscious, but her breathing was now less harsh and less shallow.

After a minute of using healing magic, Queen Toriel stopped and took a step back. She turned her head away from Undyne and toward Alex, looking them in the eyes.

"M-my child, she is resting. I'll go prepare some food, then we can talk more about what happened… I'll be in the kitchen." Alex nodded in understanding as Toriel then left the room.

Alex refocused their attention on Undyne, and they could make out a slight flutter in Undyne's eyes as she slowly opened them. Her eyes looked weak and heavy, she was struggling. Alex's heart jumped for a moment in joy, seeing her alive and ok.

"H-hey p-punk…"

Alex bent down and threw a hug over Undyne's body as she patted them lightly on the back. A tear formed on Alex's right eye as it immediately fell onto Undyne's armor.

"A-alright kid, no… no tears…" Alex let go, took a step back, and looked her in the eyes. She broke eye contact for a moment as she examined the surroundings.

"O-oh, we're with the… the Queen at New Home?" Alex nodded. "Good job kid… You did good!" Alex beamed at the complement.

"How are you feeling Undyne?" Alex's face was covered in worry for their friend.

"I-I've definitely been better… but I'm ok. What do you t-think about our Queen? Pretty nice woman, right?"

Alex smiled. "Yeah, she's really nice. She took you in to heal you the moment she saw that you were injured."

"She is pretty great. Just like our king… was…" Undyne's eyes dropped slightly in sadness from thinking of the King.

She noticed this about herself and forced a smile. "A-anyway… why don't you tell Toriel about the plan and what happened. I'll be fine s-soon enough. I can already feel my strength slowly returning."

Alex nodded as they walked through the door. They turned around as the held the doorknob to look at Undyne. "Get well soon!" They both smiled as Alex left the room to allow Undyne time to recover.

Upon exiting the room and being back in the hallway, Alex went back through the main room and into the Living Room. Alex heard the sound of fire and cooking in the kitchen, and felt the heat of a fire in the fireplace beside them. Alex decided to take a seat at the table, in a position which allowed them to see the Queen.

After the Queen put something in the oven, she turned around and saw Alex sitting at the table, so she walked over. She sat down at one of the chairs at the head of the table next to Alex.

She was the first to speak. "I'm cooking a pie in there." She smiled as she continued, "Not only are my pies delicious, but they aid in healing too." She motioned towards the cuts and bruises on Alex. "So, my child… will you please explain what happened to you?"

 _{Quick Note: I imagined music accompanying this upcoming conversation.}_

 _{If you want, Cue: Burning Heartache (lullaby cover)}_

Alex swallowed before speaking to the Queen, "D-do you know Frisk?"

Queen Toriel's smile faded into a shocked expression with her mouth wide open. She shook off the shock before responding. "Y-yes…" She bowed her head slightly as her expression changed to sadness and remorse.

Alex allowed the Queen to continue. "I, I loved them like they were my own child. I took care of them before they left me to try to leave the Underground. I-I tried to stop them from leaving…" Her eyes wouldn't meet Alex's.

"…b-but they left and eventually got here, making many friends along the way. F-Frisk fought King Asgore…" She took a deep breath before continuing, "Asgore died and Frisk disappeared without a trace, probably back to the surface…"

After explaining this, she looked Alex in the eyes before asking another question. "H-how do you know Frisk?"

Alex looked down for a moment before regaining eye contact. "Frisk… they were my best friend. We were always there for each other…" Alex fought back tears, thinking about where their friend currently was.

"F-frisk and I, we're both orphans… We took care of each other, until one day when we were playing on the mountain, they disappeared." Toriel nodded. This must have been when Frisk had fallen.

"I-I looked all over for them all day, but I never did. I, um, called the police and they started a search for them… but after six months, they decided to give up. They said they we're probably long gone…" Alex fought back the tears again as they recalled the six months without Frisk.

"They… they just gave up on Frisk… But, but I knew they'd never leave like that! So I, um, returned to the mountain and found a hole. I tried to look down into it to see how far down it went when I… I slipped and fell in."

"S-so, that is how you fell down here? You were looking for Frisk?" Alex nodded.

"I-I'm sorry, my child, but no one has seen or heard from them in months here either. They must be back on the surface…"

Alex shook their head. "I-I know what happened to Frisk now! T-they…" Alex didn't want to look Toriel in the eye. They knew the Queen loved Frisk. She was one of the first adults to actually show Frisk love.

"They, what, my child?" There was now concern and worry in Toriel's voice.

Alex's words were caught in their throat. A tear was threatening to roll down their face, but they stopped it. Finally, Alex spoke, "They were… kidnapped."

Toriel brought both of her paws to cover her mouth as she gasped. Sadness flooded her face as she, too, fought back tears. "M-my ch-child was… k-kidnapped? W-who did this?"

Alex explained, "A monster who exists outside of our reality... Doctor Gaster… took Frisk and the other six souls…"

"W-why would someone take Frisk?" Anger was beginning to enter he voice now.

"I-I think he want's my soul too… to be able to control reality…" Now worry was overcoming Toriel's expression again. Alex wanted very badly to hug her, which would likely help calm both of them.

"This… Gaster… he wants you and Frisk's soul, along with the other six?"

"Yes…" Alex unhappily admitted. Eye contact continued to get tougher. "If he succeeds… he could wipe out reality. He… he'd kill you all…" Alex bowed their head as they continued. "He'd… he'd kill Frisk…"

Alex could no longer hold back the tears. They, at once, flowed down their face as they cried. Gaster had not only taken Frisk from them, but from so many others that cared about them too. Alex closed their eyes, trying to stop the waterworks, but they were unsuccessful.

Suddenly, they felt a soft, warm embrace. They opened their eyes to see Toriel holding them in a hug. Alex couldn't help but bury their face into Toriel's robe as they continued to sob. She allowed Alex to do so as she ran her paw over Alex's head and back, comforting them.

In Toriel's arms, Alex, for the first time in their life, felt truly loved and safe. "There, there, my child. Everything it alright… Shhhhhhhh… you'll be alright…" Alex looked up and saw Toriel with a loving and caring face. She only knew Alex for a short time, but she already cared deeply for them.

Was this how Frisk felt, falling down and finding Toriel. They must have fallen right in love with this woman. She was so nice. Alex, now empty of tears, finally began to calm down.

Toriel, still holding Alex in her arms, asked, "So this 'Gaster' was the one who hurt you too as well?" Alex looked her in her eyes and nodded. They could feel the sadness within Toriel, but she hid it visually to keep Alex calm. They began to then describe the plan to save Frisk.

"B-but we came up with a plan…" Alex began. "…a plan to save Frisk…" A spark of hope glimmered within Toriel's eyes. "What do you mean, my child?"

"S-sans has a machine that will be able to bring back Frisk…" Toriel grew a smile on her face hearing this. She was glad to hear there might be a way to save Frisk.

"Is that why you are all the way out here, Alex? Do you need help?"

"Y-yeah. In order to complete the machine, we need one of the Soul Capsules."

Toriels eye widened in realization. She knew exactly what they needed. "Alright Alex. They are downstairs, at the end of a bright hallway filled with windows there is a switch hidden on the wall that will eject them from their hiding spot."

Alex understood what she said, but asked, "So… I can go get one?"

Toriel smiled. "Of course, my child. If it'll save Frisk, I'll gladly let you take one. After all, I have seven of them!" Alex wiped their face with their sweater's sleeve.

"You may go grab one while I finish the pie. It should take no longer than a minute or two. Hurry back though, we'll be waiting." She smiled and put Alex down, patting them on the head lightly, which brought a large smile to their face. Toriel then went into the kitchen.

Alex decided to go grab the capsule so they'd be back in time for pie. They walked back into the main entrance before heading down the stairs. As soon as they reached the bottom, they were in another monochromatic hallway, so the hallway Toriel mentioned was likely just a bit further. They continued.

* * *

Sans stood up and wiped the sweat off of his skull. The machine was nearly completed now. All that remained was to plug in the things Alex was collecting and then the machine would be ready to go. It felt like time to celebrate by having a snack. He had run out of snacks down here several hours ago. And, frankly, Sans was tired of sitting in his small Lab.

He stood up and walked toward the exit and stairs to leave. He would just get into his house, grab a bite to eat, and take a quick nap(Back in his lab, of course!). Something felt off, though. Gaster hadn't done anything to hinder his progress in a while, which was highly alarming.

Yeah, the lab was made of a magical alloy that would shield everything inside from him, but what stopped him from taking control of another monster and trying to break in here. Gaster didn't just give up. Knowing Gaster, he was probably conserving his magic for something else…

Sans shrugged as he walked up the steps and stepped out into the snow. He rounded the corner quickly as he entered the house and walked toward the kitchen. Papyrus hasn't returned yet, so it was eerily quiet inside. Sans didn't like it and began to quicken his pace.

He grabbed a leftover burger from Grillby's from the fridge and put it in his pocket. He could enjoy it back in his lab where he was safe. Sans left the house to return outside when a sudden headache forced him to stop in his tracks. He fell to his knees in the snow as the pain worsened.

Sans' fears were confirmed when he heard Gaster's voice in his head, speaking. **_"I'M SORRY SANS…"_** , it said. The voice sounded slightly remorseful, but that may just be San's imagination. He could feel himself losing control of his own body, but he fought back.

Sans' resistance was stronger than Gaster anticipated, but he had another trick up his sleeve. **_"SANS, IF YOU DON'T STOP RESISTING… I'LL HAVE TO DO SOMETHING THAT I'D RATHER NOT…"_** Sans was pissed now. " _give it your best shot, asshole. i ain't letting you control me!"_

Sans heard a sigh come from the voice of Gaster as it spoke again. There was no remorse or apologetic tone I his voice. **_"VERY WELL…"_**

Suddenly, images and visions flashed within Sans' mind. They were too vivid to be fake or made up, and what he saw made him terrified.

The world flashed as he was now hiding in the trees in Snowdin, watching Frisk confront Papyrus in the fog. It was just like it happened six months ago, but then something happened. Frisk held a knife in their right hand. He heard Papyrus speak, "I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!"

Sans could see that Papyrus was telling Frisk they were a good person as a battle started. But, Frisk had started this one, not Papyrus. Sans wanted to step out of the shadows to stop this but was unable to. Suddenly, Frisk lunged at Papyrus with the knife, beheading him. His body turned to dust, leaving only his head on the ground. Tear rolled down Sans' face.

"BUT… ST… STILL! I BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER! EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO… I… I PROMISE…" Frisk then approached his brother's skull as they smashed it under their heel, turning it, too, to dust.

Sans was shaking as he fell to his knees crying at this. He could see an evil smile on Frisk's lips. They laughed… They just laughed as the dust scattered…

The world flashed several more times, each showing another friend of Sans being killed at the hands of Frisk. He watched them kill Toriel, Undyne, Mettaton, Asgore, and so many more. He was also forced to see many more deaths of Papyrus. Sometimes he would be punched to death, sometimes they were stabbed, and he was killed in so many different ways.

This display was maddening. Frisk had never done that stuff. He'd checked the timeline before to confirm there were no RESETs caused by Frisk. But… Here was Frisk, killing everyone Sans loved over and over again. And each time, he was forced to stand back and watch their deaths, unable to do anything.

Sans began to lose control of himself again, but the shock and pain brought upon him by the visions reduced his willpower greatly. Gaster easily took control of Sans this time, allowing the hatred from the visions control his mind. **_"I DID NOT WANT TO SHOW YOU THIS… BUT YOU LEFT ME WITH NO CHOICE…"_**

Sans was now consumed by hatred. He knew the kid had to be stopped. The genocide has gone on long enough. Sans took a step forward as he opened a shortcut. He entered it as the world flashed again and he suddenly reappeared in his Judgment Hall.

Before him, he saw the demonic child enter the room. Their dust-covered blue sweater was appalling, and the knife they carried in their hands was frightening, but Sans stood his ground. For a moment, Sans could've sworn the sweater changed color to red and white, but it must have been the light coming in through the window.

Sans waited patiently for the kid to approach. This kid… no, this demon… they were in for a bad time. If they thought they could get away with killing everyone he loved without consequences, they were sorely mistaken.

* * *

Alex entered another hallway, but this one was filled with color. It was actually gorgeous. The hallway was colored orange and yellow, with pillars from floor to ceiling on both sides of it. There were many large windows that allowed 'sunlight' to flood the room.

Alex looked to their right as they spotted another star. They were still kind of injured, so Alex approached the star to have it heal them. The feeling of warmth and comfort washed over them as they felt all of the scratched and bruises heal and shut themselves. As it did this, Alex felt their left leg to see if the scar would heal… it wasn't but that was ok.

As the feeling was coming to an end, the familiar echo of a voice in their head spoke another message.

 ***The birds are singing. The flowers are blooming. The sunlight is shining. You are filled with Purity.**

 ***Your HP was maxed out!**

Alex released their hold on the magical star of awesomeness as they continued down the hall. They stopped as they saw the sight of a familiar skeleton standing before them. Was that Sans? How did he get here so fast? Did his 'shortcuts' start working again? Alex had no idea.

Before Alex could voice any of their questions, Sans raised their head slightly and looked them directly in their eyes. His smile seemed somewhat distant and almost fake. He began looking between Alex's right hand and their face. Why, though? Alex's hands were currently empty. It was if he thought they were carrying something.

Something seemed off… Something seemed wrong…

Guess it's time to find out what. Alex took a deep breath, tilted their head, and looked at Sans as he began to speak.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _I think you all know where this is going…_**

 ** _Chapter 15 coming soon! I hope you're all enjoying it so far. Want to say something? Want to ask something? Wanna tell me how amazing it is? Send me a PM, or leave a review. Feedback, constructive criticism, and complements are appreciated. See you soon!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	15. A Real Bad Time

Sans stood before Alex, still eyeing their empty right hand. Alex tilted their head slightly to the right in confusion. Sans maintained his serious face, the grin adorning it was obviously fake right now. Alex was unsure why Sans was here and what he was doing. Then, Sans spoke.

" _heya. you've been busy, huh? …"_ Alex nodded. They had, after all, been quite busy. All they needed now was the capsule.

" _so, i've got a question for ya. do you think even the worst person can change…?"_ Alex was wondering where this was coming from. " _that everyone can be a good person, if they just try?"_

Perhaps Sans was wondering if Alex considered trying to save Gaster? They surely thought everyone could be saved, so maybe something was wrong with Gaster and that's why he's bad… Alex nodded confidently. After all, Gaster was trapped and erased, so it must be hard on him too, right?

" _heh heh heh heh… all right. well, here's a better question."_ Sans' pupils went completely dark, making him appear threatening. _"do you wanna have a bad time?"_ He then continued, _"cause if you take another step forward… you are REALLY not going to like what happens next."_

Alex's legs began to shake in fear. Sans was serious about this. Did he think they did something wrong? Alex heard Sans' warning, but knew that the capsule was on the other side of the hallway. Upon closer inspection, Sans was shaking slightly too.

Alex felt their heart ache. Sans was hurting, at least on the inside. Against instinct, Alex took a single step forward with their right arm lightly extended and hand open, offering Sans their hand. He certainly didn't see it like that…

" _welp. sorry, old lady. this is why i never make promises."_ Alex tried to approach Sans again, but the world flashed and turned monochrome. Alex's heart fell as they knew that Sans had pulled them into a battle. This really was going to be a bad time.

* * *

" _it's a beautiful day outside. birds are singing, flowers are blooming… on days like these, kids like you…"_ Sans pointed a single skeletal hand at you as all light within his eye sockets vanished. " _."_

You felt your soul turn blue, increasing the gravitational pull on you. A chill ran down your spine as you had a feeling that he was already going to attack you. On instinct due to the suddenly increased gravity, you jump as high as you could, just as a huge amount of bones erupted out of the floor beneath you.

As soon as you reached the peak of your jump, the gravity normalized as a wall of bones came at you in incredible speeds. The wall, or walls, appeared almost like one of those game shows where there is a single, odd hole in them for contestants to get through. You reacted accordingly and dashed to the right, rolling into a ball.

This prevents damage from the first wall as you get back up and start walk backwards, allowing you to get through many more holes in the walls as they all got closer together with a slightly changing hole in them. As soon as you got through the final wall, some skull-like creatures were summoned around you.

You recognized them from the Grillby fight with Papyrus, but these were slightly larger and more menacing. Seeing first hand what these do, you immediately dove to the left onto your stomach to get out from in front of the mouths.

On cue, they fired a large beam of white energy through the spot you were just standing in. You quickly returned to your feet as those left and another pair appeared aiming at where you were now. Again, just barely in time, you jumped to the right, back to where you were previously.

A set of four blasters now appeared as they, too, tried to disintegrate you. Another dodge and return to your feet and another set appears ready to erase you. Finally, the last set of blasters whiz by you as you, once again, barely get out of the way.

The fake smile on Sans remained stagnant. " _huh, always wondered why people never use their strongest attack first."_ Alex sighed aloud. That was a single attack and they were already feeling fatigued again. Hopefully that really was Sans strongest attack…

 _{Cue Megalovania}_

 ***You feel like you're going to have a bad time.**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***CHECK TALK PUN PURIFY**

 ***Sans ATK – 1 DEF – 1**

 ***The easiest enemy. Can only deal 1 damage.**

 ***You found this joke to be distasteful.**

" _heh heh heh heh. you're just going to waste your turn like that? ...ok…"_ Sans shrugged, _"my turn!"_

You felt the hallway grow colder. The heavy feeling fills your chest as your silver soul returns to being blue. More walls approached from all sides, with the only gap being part way up the wall before it continued to the roof. You jumped to avoid the first wall, but you timed it poorly.

When you returned to the floor, you didn't have enough time to jump again to avoid wall number two. It hit you at full force as it knocked you backwards. Although in pain, you felt that only a sliver of your HP was taken, so you jumped over the next wall successfully.

You were getting a hang of the timing as no more HP was taken. As the bone walls ceased to come after you, you looked down to see your HP.

 ***HP 19/20**

Sans looked shocked. Their voice swapped back and forth between their own and another, more worrying voice. _"h-how d_ _ **ID YOU ONLY T**_ _ake one damage? my_ _ **KARMA ISN**_ _'t working?!"_ His eyes focused on you and your stats, somehow. They focused on the '1' beside the letters 'LV'.

" _ **AHHHHH, I S**_ _ee. i figured your LOVE_ _ **WOULD IMPACT THIS, BUT**_ _how did you lower yours? it takes an unbelievable a_ _ **MOUNT OF MAGIC TO DIST**_ _ort your stats, brat."_ You were alarmed at hearing Sans' and Gaster's voices alternate. You knew what you had to do.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK PUN *PURIFY**

 ***Your soul began to resonate and glow, emitting a beam of energy at Sans.**

Suddenly, he slid to the side harmlessly as the beam missed him completely. Using the beam for a moment and missing, you decided to try again, but your turn was over… You didn't think that was going to happen.

Sans held both hands up in the air and shrugged. _"what? you think i'm just gonna s_ _ **TAND HERE AND ALLOW THAT?**_ _"_ Unfortunately for you, you did think that…

Sans prepared to attack again as his eye began to glow like it had with Chara, but something was wrong. It tried to turn blue and gold momentarily, but then immediately changed to a grey and black flaming eye, with the tips of the flames being black. These flames, although black, were illuminating your surroundings.

You could feel the added weight return to you as more walls of bones came flying toward you. The walls coming from the left were endless as they approached, but not too tall as to prevent you from avoiding them. You jump and see a platform floating above the bone floor, landing on it as soon as you could.

Both feet touch down on the moving platform as lines of bones erupt, as walls, from both the ceiling and floor, leaving only narrow openings to jump through. You push off the platform as hard as you can as you get through the first wall, but miss the platform and hitting the floor of bones. There goes another HP!

You hop back up to the platform, but the second wall hits you on your way up shaving off another HP. Finally, back on the platform, the walls suddenly began to reverse direction towards you again.

Wait, the walls weren't moving, the platform was, which was forcing more effort on your part. You hit the second wall again as the attack drew to a close. You knew that each hit was only shaving off a single HP at a time, but it was starting to add up quickly.

 ***HP 16/20**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK *PUN PURIFY**

 ***You tried to make a pun about Sans' bone attacks. You felt pretty boned by them.**

 ***He gave off no visible reaction… not even a smile…**

" _what? you think i'm in t_ _ **HE MOOD FOR PUNS?! Wel**_ _p, you humans must also have a poor me_ _ **MORY."**_

Sans' eye flashed brighter as many many platforms appeared before you. There was now two layers of moving platforms above you. As you were wondering why, you spotted a line of those blasters appear in front of you on your level.

Instinctively, you jump up to the first layer of platforms. Just as you do so, the blasters erupt with energy, flooding the floor with it. You then noticed another set appear on your level. Before you decide to fall down to the now clear floor, you see another line appear down there as well.

In response, you jump up to the highest level. Again, right as you reach this, you see another line on this highest level now and another form in the middle. Without hesitation, you dive down both levels to avoid the beams.

As you pass through the middle layer, the beams activate quickly and hit your chest, sending you spinning through the air. As you spun, you hit your head on the ground, causing the world to spin around you. The beam cut off another HP, but the head injury definitely shaved off some more. As the 'Menu Options' returned, you noticed your depleted HP.

 ***HP 10/20**

Did hitting your head on the ground really shave off five HP? That was a quarter of your health gone in an instant, and the world was still spinning. You still wanted to save Sans from Gaster, though, so you refused to fight. (Although you figured he'd probably just dodge that too.)

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK *TALK PUN PURIFY**

 ***You ask Sans why he's doing this. You told him you thought he was your friend!**

 ***He shook his head slowly and shrugged again.**

" _look. i see what you're doing. ya know, sounds strange, but before all this i was secretly hoping we could be friends… and maybe all ya needed was… I dunno. some good food, some bad laughs, some nice friends…"_

"SANS! WE ARE FRIENDS!", you rebutted. Sans shrugged.

" _but that's ridiculous, right? yeah, you're the type of person who won't EVER be happy."_ You knew he was being controlled, but the words still stung. Was this how Sans truly felt?

Sans' eye glowed once more as the walls of bones began to appear again, but they were very different this time. There were now short white bone walls that you could jump over with a small amount of effort, but they were accompanied with blue bones that required no movement to avoid.

To solve this dilemma, you jump backwards, away from the walls as they approached. This allowed you to avoid the white wall and land on the ground before the blue wall arrived. You held still as it harmlessly passed over you.

This pattern repeated again and again. You got in the correct rhythm and avoided all damage for that round. It was once again time to choose what to do. He may have dodged your first attempt to PURIFY him, but it should work eventually. After all, he can't keep dodging forever.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK PUN *PURIFY**

 ***You felt your soul resonating and pulsating with energy. It released a beam of energy toward Sans.**

 ***Missed.**

Just like last time, he dodged the beam by simply sliding out of the way as it went past him. As the beam ended, he slid back into place.

" _i thought you'd be using that..."_ Sans pointed towards your empty right hand again, as if he thought you were holding something. _"you really liked swinging that thing around, huh?..."_ His pupils once again dimmed. After a quick five seconds of silence, Sans' black and grey flaming eye reignited.

As soon as the flaming darkness in his eye reignited, the platforms returned again, but the blasters were absent. Rather then them, there were walls of bones. As you had a slightly confused look for a moment, Sans noticed this and began to talk as you hopped up a level.

" _what? you surprised i'm not using gaster blasters?"_ Your eyes widened when you heard Sans say that name. " _yeah, he_ _ **CREATED THEM WITH MY OWN HANDS. THEY WERE ONE OF**_ _his greatest creations… well, except maybe th_ _ **E CORE…"**_

You were tempted to ask some questions, but you decided survival was more important. You hopped up and down, left and right, avoiding walls of bones as you hopped up higher or fell down. You were extra careful to only fall one layer at a time.

As you continued jumping you heard a female shriek from behind you. You, unfortunately, were caught off guard by this was you fell down (onto your feet) and were hit by a wall before the attack ended.

 ***HP 9/20**

Now that the attack was over, you turned around to see Toriel standing by the entrance to the hall. "S-Sans? What's going on?" Sans' smile disappeared completely, seeing Toriel and hearing her voice. He twitched violently as anger spread across his face.

" _w-what kind of magic is this?!"_ Sans didn't appear to believe that Toriel was actually there. " _you… you demon!"_ He raised his hands as bones erupted in a wall, keeping Toriel away from the battlefield in the center of the hallway.

Toriel turned and ran out of the hallway. You called out for her… but nothing happened. Sans' smile returned as a smirk. _"so kid… you done playing mind tricks?"_

 ***Sadness filled your heart. Sans doesn't care.**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK PUN *PURIFY**

 ***Your soul pulsated and glowed more rapidly this time. The beam shot forward toward Sans.**

 ***Missed.**

It was expected. Sans slid out of the way of the beam before returning to his spot. _"ya know brat? playing those mind games… that's not cool… someone outta teach ya some manners."_

The floor quickly changed to bones as you leapt into the air onto the single platform. Rather then the three walls of bones, more platforms began to appear at varying heights and speeds. Instinctively, you jumped to the nearest one as a bone appeared out of nowhere beneath it.

You leap again to another platform, but quickly realize you mistake. You leaped to a platform that contained an unsurmountable bone, causing another loss of HP. Slightly disoriented, you fell of the platform and barely caught another one with a single hand, preventing your drop into the bones below.

You climbed up to another platform as a bone hits you from behind and knocks you down onto the ground, hitting your head again and sending the world spinning. The impact was bad, but not quite as bad as the previous one… or maybe it was and you were simply numb? Who knew? Not you…

 ***HP 4/20**

Your HP was dangerously low, and the world was still spinning around you. _"what, you hurting?"_ You felt a tear run down your face from the headache as you nodded silently. Sans didn't expect an answer to his rhetorical question, but obviously didn't care about your answer.

" _welp, just remember… papyrus had it worse…"_ His tone was deathly serious. What was Sans thinking? Did he think you hurt Papyrus? What did Gaster do to him?

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] *[ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***KETCHUP**

 ***You drank the magical Grillby Brand Ketchup (patent pending).**

 ***It was… quiet unique, drinking it… You weren't a fan.**

 ***HP restored by 10**

 ***HP 14/20**

The spinning of the world around you ceased the moment the ketchup touched down on your tongue. Although it wasn't that good, you forced yourself to drink the whole thing. At least now you had a better chance of living.

" _you're quite the anom_ _ **ALY ALEX, YOU KNOW THAT? YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE. NOW, FRISK GETS TO WATCH**_ _you die by my hands, you brat!... you dirty brother killer…"_

Sans… Sans thought you killed Papyrus? Perhaps it was time to get your head back in the game! You watched as the black flaming eye grew brighter(somehow), sending a chill down your spine. Perhaps you should use your weapon? You unsheathed **The Clavicle** and held it firmly in both hands.

Sans' eye sockets widened at seeing the bone weapon made by Papyrus. A quick shudder overcame Sans' body as Gaster began to speak. _**"NOTHING YOU DO WILL FREE HIM, ALEX. EITHER KILL YOUR FRIEND… OR LET HIM KILL YOU!"**_ Sans' body pointed at you before beginning the attack.

The platforms returned with the blasters, but you were ready. Either Gaster was losing control, or your weapon did something to Sans, because now the Gaster Blasters were appearing and firing at a slightly slower speed.

You leapt up to a platform before jumping up to the top as the bottom two areas were flooded with energy. Seeing the weakness that was being used for this attack, Gaster seemed to empower the Blasters temporarily. The beams they were now firing were pitch black.

You dodged and jumped as you avoided the beams, but one hit you while you were on the ground, causing you to trip as the attack ended. That previous beam had certainly scorched you. You examined yourself and saw smoke forming from your sweater, which you quickly patted to put out any possible flames.

You then examined your health as your fears were realized. Those beams were so powerful it shaved off the 10 HP you had regained from the Ketchup.

 ***HP 4/20**

Cuts and bruises were not all over your body again from all of the abuse and damage you were taking from this fight. Suddenly, you heard your name being shouted from behind you by two females now.

You turned around and saw Undyne and Toriel, still standing behind the wall of bones formed earlier. Undyne was being supported by Toriel. She was likely still injured, but she and Toriel were both more worried about you at the moment.

"ALEX! SANS? What the fuck is going on?!" You could see Toriel flash Undyne a look, but didn't say anything. She likely disproved of the cursing as well. Sans grabbed at their head and shook it in confusion.

" _undyne? h-how? why aren't_ _ **YOU DEAD? YOU CANNOT SAVE ALEX, th**_ _is must be some sort of t-trick. enough of your games, demon!"_ Sans forced a set of bones to speed towards Undyne and Toriel from all directions, but the Queen sent immense fireballs all around them, destroying the attacks.

"Alex, use the Determination vial!"

"The what?" Toriel seemed confused but didn't press much further. Keeping you alive was more important than knowing all the specifics.

"I-I thought Alphys said it was for emergencies only?"

"PUNK, I don't know if you noticed, but, um… THIS IS A FUCKING EMERGENCY!"

You nodded in understanding as you focused once more on the 'Menu Options'. You guess that it was time to see what this determination would do!

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT] *[** **ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***DETERMINATION VIAL**

 ***You took out the vial of determination with a syringe.**

 ***You emptied the entirety of the vial into the syringe.**

 ***You stuck the needle into a vein on your leg and injected it!**

 ***…**

 _{Cue some sort of Megalovania Remix}_

 ***…**

 ***You are filled with PURE DETERMINATION!**

 ***HP maxed out.**

 ***Your stamina has been replenished.**

 ***Your SPEED has increased.**

 ***Your DEF has increased.**

You felt amazing. Everything about you felt like it was kicking into overdrive. You felt like you could take on the world. Was this the power of Determination?! It was awesome!

Sans flinched, seeing the energy that had returned to you. His smirk shrunk slightly, but he was not discouraged from using his turn to attack. His eye, once again, was brightly aflame as he summoned more walls of bones. These walled varied in height, but they were all in pairs, with one coming from either side.

You stood your ground as you focused your energy. The blue energy around your soul shattered into dust, leaving a bright silver soul behind. But now, your soul had a beautiful red shade to it. The blue magic was now no longer effecting you, allowing your jumps to actually be easier to do.

You jumped the perfect height each time, dodging every single pair of walls that came at you with ease. San's smile turned upside down while your friends cheered for you.

"HELL YEAH, ALEX!"

"Excellent job, my child!"

You felt so proud of yourself. Maybe you could defeat Sans and PURIFY him. It was now time to try out your PURIFY ability with your renewed and increased stamina and energy.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK PUN *PURIFY**

 ***Your soul immediately overflowed with energy, sending out an instantaneous blast of energy toward Sans.**

 ***Missed.**

Sans barley avoided your PURIFYing beam of energy this time. Sweat began to form on his skull now. Perhaps he was starting to finally get tired. He held out his hands again as his eye was aflame, only it was slightly dimmer now.

" _you can't understand how this feels. knowing a demon like you has that kind of power. knowing they choose to use it for genocide…"_ Sans shook his skull.

"… _knowing you've been distorting the timespace continuum. starting and stopping timelines at will... and for what? you don't deserve that power."_

"If you kill me, Gaster will get that power and more!" Sans simply shrugged in response.

" _i can't afford not t_ _ **O INTERVENE ANY LONGER! YOUR DEATH IS REQUIRED! JUST GIVE U**_ _p."_

Sans began his next attack, but this one was quite different. A huge wall appeared before you, but it was orange and approaching fast. You ran forward, through the wall only to instantly slam through a light blue wall, lowering your health.

As you saw more light blue walls now hurtling towards you, you forced yourself to stop. Waves and waves of endless blue walls passed over you harmlessly as you noticed the air filling with static. You spotted a Gaster Blaster taking aim at you as you were forced to remain still.

You tried to dodge it, but the beam was too large, catching your entire body within it. The movement you made in your attempt to dodge it also caused two light blue was to hit you. Your HP was being decimated, but you still had the energy to keep going. The walls ended shortly thereafter as it was once again your turn.

 ***HP 14/20**

 ***…ouch…**

Suddenly, you feel something resonating deep within your now red-tinted-silver soul. You feel it filling your entire body before it calms down once more. Your Determination healed you slightly.

 ***HP 16/20**

"Oh yeah." You were ready to make another move.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK PUN *PURIFY**

 ***Your soul resonated with the determination. It fired away.**

 ***Missed.**

Sans, once again, barely slid to safety to avoid the blast. He held up both hands and shrugged.

" _to be blunt i've always found it kinda hard to give it my all, but seeing what you can and have done up until now… i'm sure as hell gonna give it my all."_

Sans' eye brightly shined once more with black flames as you felt your soul turn blue once more, however it is a more intense blue this time. You feel the increased weight and pressure prevent you from jumping.

In anticipation for the attack, you take off to the right as the first Gaster Blaster comes into existence and fires. You swiftly maneuver around the beam as another spawns in.

You continuously dash around in a confused and random manner. Dashing right, no left. Then forward before rolling back. You spin and circle around Sans as the many blasters spawn in, fire, disappear, and repeat.

Seeing what your doing, Sans slightly shudders as more black magic flows into him from Gaster. The beams from the blasters now turn black and the blasters now begin to appear more frequently and in groups.

You try to continue dashing, but you feel the beams getting closer to you with every fire. Suddenly, on grazes you slightly in the leg, burning it.

 ***HP 13/20**

Luckily, your increased DEF reduced the damage, but it still stung! In desperation, you cry out for help.

As you feel the blasters lock onto you, you feel your soul turn green. But this green is different. Combined with the intensity and power of Determination, you feel a shield form on both arms.

Using the shields, you block the incoming beams, sustaining no further damage. You look over as the attack ended and see Undyne holding out a hand weakly, using much of her strength to help you. Her eyes were wide open, seeing the double shields on your arms.

Her arm fell and the green magic left you as she was overcome with weakness. Toriel caught her and began to use more healing magic on her. Toriel looked over at you with both fear and pride in her eyes. "You can do this, my child. We believe in you!"

You were ready to keep fighting.

" _all this fighting is really tiring me out. and if you keep pushing me… then i'll be forced to use my_ _ **special attack**_ _."_

Hearing Sans mention a special attack was worrying. This 'special attack' would certainly be the most powerful unavoidable attack in his arsenal.

 ***Sans is preparing something.**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK PUN *PURIFY**

 ***You fired another Purification beam of magic from your soul.**

 ***Missed**

Sans, this time, teleported to the side in order to dodge it. His physical strength seemed be beginning to falter. If only you could just get a PURIFY to succeed… Perhaps if he gets tired enough, he won't be able to dodge.

 ***This idea to tire Sans out to be able to Save him…**

 ***It fills you with PURE DETERMINATION**

 ***HP FULLY RESTORED**

Sans/Gasters sees your determination. His face contorts into an evil smile. _"well, here foes nothing… are you ready? survive THIS and i'll show you my_ _ **Special Attack**_ _!"_

Sans' eye flashed brighter than it had every shined. You feel your soul becoming a much darker blue than before as gravity shifts around you. You feel disoriented, but try to remain calm-ish.

You feel yourself begin to fall, or thrown, against the wall and pillars to your left. You are caught off guard by the impact and land on your knees. Before you can respond to try to jump, since you're still against the wall, bones emerge from it.

The bones puncture your legs as a scream erupts from your mouth. You feel the HP decrease as the blood begins to flow down your legs and onto the wall. You could hear Toriel and Undyne, now awake again, yelling at you and Sans. You couldn't hear what they said, though…

 ***HP 16/20**

Before you could react, you feel the gravity shift once more, sending you flying towards the right-hand wall.

With your legs nearly out of commission and your mind flooding with pain, you use your arms and body to roll onto the wall, rather than simply impact it. You force your bleeding legs to jump as the bones appear beneath you.

You dodge, but the strain you put on your injured legs causes more pain, inflicting unintentional damage on yourself.

 ***HP 14/20**

Sans, without remorse, continues the 'regular attack' by throwing you backwards as many bone walls appear with tiny gaps in them to pass through. You pass miraculously pass through all of the gaps but one, hitting it with your arm and creating a cut along your right forearm.

 ***HP 13/20**

As soon as you reach the back wall, you jump off of it immediately, causing more pain and damage, but avoiding the bones that appeared from the wall.

 ***HP 11/20**

You focused on the determination flowing through you as you continued to jump off of walls to avoid many more traps and bones, inflicting some occasional damage.

 ***HP 7/20**

As you began to successfully dodge several throws in succession, Sans returns the gravity to normal. You were about to sigh in relief, but stopped as you saw the grand finale to Sans' regular attack.

Hundreds of Gaster Blasters took aim at you and fired in immediate succession to try to disintegrate you. Against the advice of your legs, you ran around to dodge the beams before they got you. The attack finally ended without any more damage done to you.

Sans ended his attack, sweat now all over his forehead. He was exhausted. And so were you, but the Determination flowing through your veins kept you going. Unfortunately, you could feel the effects beginning to fade as the pain began to return and grow stronger. Time to act!

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TALK PUN *PURIFY**

 ***Your soul launched energy at Sans without any sign of a charge-up.**

 ***The beam hit Sans directly.**

 ***Their soul flashed as their flaming eye returned to blue and gold.**

Sans didn't have a chance to dodge, and so he looked slightly confused at what had happened. He tilted his head, looking at you. There was no smile on his face, just a frown.

 _{Cue change in music to: Megalovania Piano Arrangement.}_

" _h-human? i-i'm ok…?"_

Your eyes began to water, seeing your friend Sans being ok after the intense blast of your energy. You nodded and took a step forward. The pain erupted and shook your body to the core, but you pressed onwards to comfort your friend. They needed help more than you did.

Perhaps since he had such a low HP and DEF, it only took a single PURIFY to return him to normal. That was a relief. He began to speak again.

"… _i can feel it. there's a glimmer… no more than that… of a good person inside you. i must have been mistaken and… tricked…"_ Sans slightly bowed their head slightly in sadness.

After a short moment, he continued, " _please, if you're listening to me still… after everything i did… let's forget about all of this, ok? please… let's end this fight now. once and for all…"_

 ***Sans is sparing you**

Without a second guess, you nod at Sans. He smiled. " _…you're sparing me? finally. buddy. pal… c'mere, pal."_

You, without hesitation, run and jump into Sans' embrace, ignoring the pain, and wrapping your arms around them and crying into his parka. He wraps his arms around you, too, to complete the embrace. He begins rubbing your back lightly in circles.

You sobbed for a good thirty seconds in silence. A tear hit you in the back as well, from Sans. You began to stop your crying and loosened your tight grip on Sans, but he still held you in the warm embrace of a hug.

Finally, it was over. Your friends were all safe right now. You could worry about Gaster later. Right now, you wanted to stay with your friends. To enjoy THIS moment for as long as you could.

That's when the pain erupted through your chest. You gasped for air as you cried out in pain. Your scream was unsettling. Horrifying.

Sans released you and took a step back. The black and grey flame had reconquered his eye. Tears began to roll down your face again, but this time they were caused by the emotional and physical pain of the betrayal.

You felt the loss of Sans' embrace as he looked upon you with disgust. He seemed almost happy. He seemed proud that he had tricked you. You heard the gasps and screams behind you as your friends noticed the reason for your scream. You tried to turn your head to see their faces, but were unable to do so. Was this the end?

You looked forward to see your HP and soul. There was a large dark crack forming down the center of it. The red tint was now nearly gone…

 ***HP 0/20**

"NNOOOOOOOOOO! YOU BASTARD!" You could hear the pure hatred in Undyne's voice as it struggled. She was deeply pained seeing you like this.

You could hear Toriel sobbing and crying out for you. "M-MY CHILD! Please! Why would you do this! To someone so… SO YOUNG?" Sans ignored their cries and pleas.

You felt the darkness creep up upon you from all directions. This darkness wasn't Gaster, or some other entity. No. This was death… wasn't it…

Your tears began to slow down as you stopped producing them. Your breathing grew shallow as you struggled to do anything other than die. It was beyond painful. You looked down to see the damage first-hand.

There were at least five separate bones at different angles that had punctured your torso. The pain was indescribable. Blood was flooding parts of your body that it shouldn't be…

You could hear, what you could only guess was, both Toriel and Undyne's attempts at destroying the wall between you and them. As far as you could tell, it didn't sound like they were succeeding. Numbness began to creep upon you, slowly beginning to take the pain away.

As the darkness had now consumed everything in your vision except yourself and the skeleton in front of you, you locked your eyes onto Sans'. You spoke, which was very hard with the blood filling up your lungs.

"S-sans… I-I'm sorry… t-this i-…isn't your f-f-fault… i…." You coughed up some blood, sending a small puddle to the ground between you and Sans.

You felt your final breath barely enter your lungs. "…I forgive you…" As you muttered these last words, you felt the pain in your chest become completely numb as the darkness crept forward, washing over everything. You could see a quick flash of guilt appear in Sans' face.

The darkness broke from within his eye as the color returned now. The last thing you see is the formation of a tear in his eye as his smile falls. Realization began to wash over Sans…

You let go and allowed the darkness to begin to consume you… But you didn't want to die. You wanted to save everyone. You wanted to save Sans… Maybe you did… Maybe it was alright now… but… You felt so bad for everyone you were leaving behind. You could almost hear Frisk crying out for you. You… you…

Your SOUL split into two pieces.

* * *

 _ **Quick Note:**_

 _ **Been working on this one for a little bit now.**_

 _ **Sorry… Please don't hate me…**_

 _ **More is coming soon…**_

 _ **If you like the story so far, let me know…**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


	16. And Reality Cracked Open

Sans stood there, standing before the human, err demon. They had hit Sans with some sort of energy. It was odd. It didn't hurt, but it made him hesitate. He decided he might be able to trick the psychopath into surrendering… he just didn't think it'd work.

The embrace was kind of nice. Reminded him of Papyrus's hugs… which he could never feel again thanks to this murderer. He knew what he had to do, but there was hesitation… why? They'd killed everyone, right?

 ** _THEY ARE RAISING THE KNIFE BEHIND YOU BACK NOW. STRIKE THEM DOWN, BEFORE THEY STRIKE YOU!_**

Sans could feel the hands around him from the kid, he didn't feel them preparing to stab him, but he couldn't take that chance. What had that energy beam done to him? He couldn't think straight. He went with his gut… and skewered the kid.

He heard the sounds of six bones puncturing the flesh of the human. A quick gasp in pain occurred before the horrible sound of a scream filled the hall. Instinctually, Sans took a step back as tears of pain and betrayal rolled down the kid's face.

Sans wore a smile of satisfaction. They did it. They stopped the murderer. Sure, he never truly wanted to kill someone, but he was left with no choice. He could see the struggle in the demon's eyes.

He heard 'Undyne' curse at him from behind the brat, and the sounds of crying from the 'Queen'. These allusions were cruel. He didn't even know there was a type of magic that could do that. It was frightening, but once the kid died those tricks should go away too. Good riddance.

He heard shouting and loud noises behind the kid, which was caused by the two 'illusions' trying to break the wall. Why would the kid still be doing this to him? What was the point now?

He returned his attention of the brat, hanging on for dear life, slumped over the bones as a red stream poured onto the floor. The kid raised their head slightly and looked Sans right in the eye, but the kid's eyes seemed dim and distant. They we're likely about to die.

Then, the kid spoke. "S-sans… I-I'm sorry… t-this i- …isn't your f-f-fault… I…"

They suddenly coughed up blood, which was starting to disturb Sans. Sans would've killed them quicker, but they didn't deserve that kind of mercy… right? They continued, "… I forgive you…"

As soon as the kid uttered those final words, he heard screaming continuing from behind them as they went completely limp and their eye's ceased all movement. Sans felt a wave of guilt wash over him as his eye seemed to change color. Did… did the kid really just…

Sans, now smile-less, looked at the kid as they didn't take another breath. He wanted to reach out… maybe he could…

Their silver soul suddenly finished cracking and broke into two pieces.

It was at that moment, that everything happened. The kid's blue and purple sweater flashed and became red and white. Their brown pants became tattered jeans. Their shoulder length brown hair became shorter black hair.

The kid was… was… he had killed… Sans had killed Alex…?! As this realization dawned on him, the shock caused the bone wall in front of him to collapse and disintegrate. The illusions weren't illusions either… they were real…

Sans wanted to die. He felt his knees go weak as he remembered the attack by Gaster to control him. But... Gaster didn't control him, did he? This was all Sans' fault. Gaster only distorted his senses…

Sans rushed forward and retracted the bones as he caught Alex's pale, dead form in his arms. What had he done? He killed one of his best friends. He murdered them for something that never even happened. He heard each and every plea for him to stop… but he never listened.

Sans let out all of his emotions, allowing tears to flood out of his eye sockets as he held Alex gently. His attention was so focused on the kid, he didn't notice the approach of Undyne and Queen Toriel. He saw, as they were mere feet away, that they were not pleased.

He felt Alex be taken from his hands by the Queen, and himself be thrown backwards as Undyne tackled him to the ground. He was picked up and held by his throat by Undyne, who was wearing her armor. (Sans thought it was odd that there was a huge hole/mark on the armor.)

Queen Toriel cradled the kid and cried, trying to use healing magic to bring them back, to no avail. Sans returned his attention to Undyne holding him by his neck. She was furious.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! THEY SPARED YOU! THEY FORGAVE YOU! AND FOR WHAT?! TO BE BRUTALLY MURDERED BY SOMEONE THEY TRUSTED SO MUCH?!" There was a fire in her eyes and nothing but pure anger covered her face.

Sans couldn't do anything. There was no justification. There was no apology that would be enough. He'd killed Alex, and he was broken…

Sans stared blankly back at Undyne as she held him tightly in the air. He tried to force himself to speak, but was choked up. (Both physically and emotionally.)

 _"i… i… i didn't…"_

"WHAT?! YOU DIDN'T WHAT? MEAN IT? THINK IT WOULD KILL THEM?"

Sans let the tears continue to form and flow as he was held there. There was a quiver of hesitation from Undyne. She could sense the pain within him.

 _"i couldn't s-stop mys-self…"_ he tried to explain. _"g-gaster… he… he did something to me…"_

Toriel continued to cradle and rock Alex back and forth, hoping they were only sleeping. No one wanted to admit they were truly gone. She tried to pump healing magic into the body, but all it did was close the wounds. There was no sign of life.

Undyne looked away from Sans, not daring to look him in the eye, as she dropped him to the ground. Everyone in the hall was broken in one way or another.

* * *

…Everything was dark. Nothingness. That was the only sensation Alex felt. Absolutely nothing. They were dead? Maybe? Probably…

All they remembered was the bones puncturing their body and their soul splitting. What happened? Where are they? Could they actually have died?

They didn't want to die. They had to live. It couldn't just end like this! There had to be some other way! Alex wasn't just going to accept their death! There was so much to do! Some much they had to say. There was no way this was the end.

The looked down at their soul, split into two imperfect halves of their heart-shaped silver soul. There was still a slight hint of red within it from the Determination injection. They were still determined to save Frisk. They had to.

They could feel the presence of another being, which interrupted their thoughts. Suddenly, before them was a skeleton-looing monster with gashes along his eyes. He stared intently at Alex and their soul. His hands, with holes in the center, quickly approached their soul.

Alex didn't need him to reveal his name. They already knew: This must be Gaster. He must be trying to take my soul now that I'm dead. Alex reacted quickly and moved away from Gaster, with their soul following closely.

Gaster frowned. He probably didn't expect any resistance. His frown became one of anger as he continued to approach their soul. **_"IT'S OVER ALEX. YOU CAN'T STOP THIS NOW! LET IT GO! IT'LL MAKE EVERYTHING GO A LOT EASIER!"_**

Alex shook their head, and Gaster really didn't care. Alex was determined to leave this 'void'. They still had to fix everything and save Frisk. Alex could feel the Determination stirring from within them.

Didn't Alphys or Sans say Determination could influence the timeline? Perhaps, with what little remains, Alex could try to undo their own death… Alex focused on their Determination. It surged within them and was felt all over their body.

Their own soul in front of them reacted to this. The two broken halves approached each other as it began to give off a red glow. Gaster became laughed, seeing this.

 ** _"YOU NAÏVE CHILD. EVEN WITH THE INJECTED DETERMINATION, YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH TO CONTROL THE TIMELINE!"_** Gaster simply brought one hand up in front of him. Doing so caused liquid darkness to envelope the two halves of the soul, keeping them separated.

Gaster squeezed his hand shut, causing the darkness to squeeze down onto Alex's soul, causing another yell in pain. There was sudden movement in the darkness, which Gaster also noticed. He smiled and brought his other hand forward, bringing Frisk into view.

Alex saw Frisk, who was being held with their arms over their head. They stared with wide open eyes and an ajar mouth. "A-Alex? GASTER! Leave them alone!"

Gaster laughed. **_"DON'T YOU SEE? EVERYTHING IS FALLING INTO PLACE… THERE IS NO CHANCE AT STOPPING ME NOW!"_**

Frisk began to glow with rage. No, literally. The darkness around them was illuminated with the bright glow of their red soul. Gaster's eyes opened slightly wider as he saw Frisk doing this.

 ** _"FRISK… YOU KNOW YOU DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO SAVE THEM HERE…"_**

Frisk ignored Gaster, sending more and more magic and Determination pulsating from their soul, causing a reaction with Alex's. Suddenly, Alex's soul began to become a bright, shiny red color and destroying the darkness that previously enveloped their soul.

The light was so bright and powerful, it caused Gaster to stumble backwards. He appeared to be afraid. But why? Was he really not as powerful as he claimed?

Alex's soul was filled with Determination from Frisk. Alex felt full of power. Almost as if they could do anything. They… They…

 ***You are filled with Pure Determination.**

The two halves began to violently shake and vibrate now, hovering less than a centimeter away from each other. Frisk smiled and let their own soul dim again. "You can do it Alex. Get out of here and finish all of this!"

Gaster cried out, **_"YOU'RE ONLY PROLONGING THE INEVITABLE! STOP THIS AT ONCE!"_**

The soul fragments suddenly collided and reformed, sealing the crack that had previously formed within it. It shined brightly, startling Gaster and Alex alike. Alex heard a single thought in their head as the light flooded their senses and washed away Gaster from view.

 ***…But it refused…**

* * *

Alex's body laid in Toriel's arms, still motionless. Toriel had used most of her energy healing parts of Alex's body and crying. Undyne still wouldn't look Sans in the eye as he laid on the ground where he was dropped. Toriel had cradled the body for nearly ten minutes since Alex died.

Suddenly, their silver soul fragments reformed over Alex's chest and collided together, recreating their soul. It immediately disappeared into Alex as their eyes jumped open and they gasped for air, coughing up more blood as a result for a moment.

Toriel shed the last of her tears as she embraced Alex fully. She sobbed and cried tears of joy, seeing Alex alive again. Undyne rushed over too, but Sans remained where he laid.

Alex looked around to see they were being held in Toriel's embrace, which they joined in by hugging her back. Undyne came over with a huge grin on her face. After the hug ended, Undyne punched them in the arm.

"PUNK! If you ever die on us like that again… I'lll… I'll never forgive you!" Now tears were forming in her eyes too, causing Alex to run over and hug her. She promptly picked them up and held them in a hug so tight it almost hurt. Actually, it kinda did.

"Ouch…" Undyne put them down as they rubbed their chest lightly. They noticed the holes were gone, but knew there were definitely many, many large bruises both internally and externally. "Sorry, my child, but my healing magic isn't perfect." Alex smiled at her and thanked her for healing them anyway.

Alex then looked over to Sans, who laid on his back about a dozen feet away. He only glanced at them for a second before closing his eye sockets (somehow) and frowned. Without hesitation, they walked over to Sans and kneeled down beside him.

Alex reached out a hand and rubbed his arm slowly and lightly, getting his attention. He slowly turned his head towards Alex and re-opened his eyes. Still holding the frown firmly, he began to speak, _"alex… i…"_

Before Sans could speak, Alex reached both arms around Sans and pulled him into a hug. Sans was shocked by the care and love of the kid. He didn't respond for the first few seconds of the hug, until he finally wrapped his arms around them too and let out a few tears.

 _"i am… so sorry alex. i couldn't stop him…"_ Alex let some more tears flow and they still held Sans tightly. "It's ok Sans. It wasn't your fault… I forgive you!" Sans tightened the embrace slightly and held it a moment longer before breaking it.

Alex stood up and held their hand out to Sans. After a moment of hesitation, he accepted it and was brought to his feet.

Now standing and all together, the four of them began to discuss what came next. "My child, don't you still need the Soul Canister?" Alex nodded as Toriel led them over to the other side of the hall. She reached out a paw and pressed a hidden switch, causing seven empty canisters to rise out of the ground before them.

Sans walked over and pulled a single one out of the ground and held it under one of his arms. _"alright, now that we got what we need, let's get back to my lab…"_

Toriel responded, "Wait, I think the pie should be done. Why don't we all have a bite before doing anything else dangerous? At _yeast_ think about it." _"well…"_ Alex tugged on his sleeve. "C'mon Sans, can't we just stay for a little bit longer?"

 _"heh, isn't that the question of the flour? eat sounds pretty knife to me. how about you, Undyne? wanna have just deserts?"_

Toriel and Alex both began to laugh loudly, while Undyne just groaned and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure." They all then walked out the hallway and returned to Toriel's living room and sat at the table.

She went into the kitchen to get the pie and came back out with four plates with a large slice of pie on each plate. The Queen set a plat in front of each of them as she took a seat at the end of the table. After everyone began to eat the pie, Alex spoke up first.

"mmmmm, this is good Ms. Toriel. What flavor is this?"

"Why, it's my famous Butterscotch Pie."

"Yeah, the punk's right. It is pretty amazing!"

 _"heh, yeah. no matter which way you slice it, i'm filling pretty satisfied."_

"GGGRRrrrrrr… Sans…" Toriel and Alex both erupt into laughter, which causes more pain for Alex again. Undyne sees this, "Alright, if you won't stop for me, how about you stop for Alex. Laughing hurts them."

 _"alright, alright."_

They all finish their slices and bid the Queen goodbye. All three of them now returned to the elevator and clicked the switch to begin the descent. That's when Undyne began to speak.

"Alright Sans, you wanna explain what happened back in the hall?"

 _"oh… yeah…"_ Sans looked down at the floor in shame. He still felt guilty about the whole thing. Alex reached and held Sans' hand.

 _"i was finishing up the machine and i went upstairs for a snack… and that's when it happened."_

"What? He took control of you like the other monsters and forced you to fight Alex?"

 _"…no…"_

"No? What do you mean no? What'd Gaster do to you, then?"

 _"gaster… he showed me… something horrible. i think i was showed another timeline. It was one where Frisk murdered all of us. I saw them kill Papyrus, and you, and Mettaton, and everyone else."_

No one said a word as Sans continued, _"then, he used my emotions from that timeline to overwhelm me. he… he made me think alex was this twisted form of frisk… and whatever the other me felt about them… it wasn't friendly."_

Everyone was silent. Undyne looked less angry at Sans upon hearing this. Alex looked worried and squeezed Sans' hang lightly. Sans looked over and saw the worry in their eyes. _"th-the worst part was… i was completely in control… all gaster did was cloud my judgment and senses…"_

Sans squeezed back slightly on Alex's hand. It was a gentle kind squeeze as he looked at them. _"i-i'm sorry kiddo…i know i can never make it up to you, but…"_

"Shut up Sans!" Undyne said. "We all know that wasn't you, so stop blaming yourself! Everything's ok, right?"

"Y-yeah Sans, and if you can make it up for me by bringing back Frisk!" Alex added.

 _"heh, thanks guys… you both are pretty cool friends!"_

"Yeah, we know, you bonehead!" Alex says, which causes a snort from Sans.

Suddenly, on cue, the elevator dings and opens back up to the Core. They walk through the firs few doors and find the piles of dust.

"Oh my…" Alex begins. Alex begins to choke up, seeing the dust piles. "…these are… the monsters that saved us…" Sans' and Undyne's eyes open widely. They stand there a moment, spending it in silence.

"Alright punk, let's go. We can't let their sacrifice be in vain. They all return to the MTT resort and pass through it in haste as they return to Hotland and hop in the final elevator.

It descends quickly, and they disembark it quickly as they reach the crossroads that lead to Alphys' Lab.

 _"alright, undyne. you should get alphys and everyone else from the lab and meet me back at my house with them to see frisk. i'll bring alex there to set it up."_

Undyne looked ready to protest, but then saw what was going on. Sans was worried that they'd run into trouble, and needed as much backup as possible. She nodded and headed towards the Lab as Sans and Alex walked forward down the path they hadn't explored.

There was rubble everywhere, but there was a small path that lead to the edge of a river with a familiar boat and Boat Person. "I thought this dock was destroyed? Isn't that what you all said?"

Sans nodded. _"yeah, but they've been working to fix it. looks like it was just made usable again."_

They both ran over to the boat and climb aboard. "To Snowdin, please!", said Alex.

The River Person nodded as the boat took off down the river. They sped down it quickly, at a much faster pace then last time. Did the River Person know that they were in a rush? The River Person spoke up as they sped down the river.

"Tra la la. Reality bends as he demands."

"Huh?"

"Tra la la. Beware the man who speaks in hands."

 _"…"_ Alex whispered to Sans, "Gaster?" Sans simply nodded with a neutral expression.

"Tra la la. Power corrupts even good intentions."

Both riders remained speechless as the River Person continued their song.

"Tra la la. Do you both have apprehension?"

Both passengers look at each other with unease. The River Person knows more than they should.

They then arrive at Snowdin and the boat comes to a stop. They step off, remaining silent towards the River Person. Alex takes a step closer and asks, "How do you know him? What do you mean?"

They hear an odd chuckle come from the River Person. They respond:

Tra la la. Some of what I say is allegorical, soul of Purity.

You and he will decide everyone's fate for eternity.

Human, this could definitely go quite horribly.

And this will be difficult, indubitably.

However, you could win peace and tranquility.

Now go, your mission holds priority.

Before Alex could try to get a clearer answer, the River Person takes off down the river. Sans and Alex are shaken by what they said, but head into town. They pass by the spot in which they fought Grillby, but snow has since fallen and covered the location. Luckily the fog was gone too.

They walk into town and enter Sans' basement lab quickly. Once inside, Alex sees that machine, which was now nearly complete. Sans walks over to it and attacks some cables to the Soul Canister under his arm and sets it into a specific spot for it.

"Sans, what's the Canister for?"

 _"this soul canister will serve as the receiver for frisk's soul when we pull it back into reality."_

"Wait what about their body?"

 _"oh, their body will come back too. because of the way the void works, if we can extract a soul, everything with it will come too."_

"How do you know that about the void? How could you be sure?"

 _"Well, when you got those readings at the core, they were transmitted to my computers. Those readings helped me figure out how to configure the machine. Now, i'm gonna need the artifact, please."_

Alex reaches into their inventory (or bottomless pockets) and pulls out the large red orb known as the Legendary Artifact. "Hey Sans, what exactly is this artifact?" Alex asks as they hand it over to Sans.

 _"oh yeah, i never fully explained. this thing can channel energy between the fabrics of reality… or at least, that's the legend."_ Sans takes the Legendary Artifact and hooks it into the slot made for it. Once it is hooked up, Sans speaks again. _"kiddo, you have the vial of determination?"_

Alex nods and reaches into their pocket and grabs the red vial. They give it to Sans. "Do you need the syringe too?" Sans shakes his head as his hooks the vial up to an imput on top of the machine.

 _"alright alex, it's about ready to go now. you ready to help me start it up?"_

"Absolutely! What do you need?"

 _"put both of your hands on the legendary artifact. then, summon your soul in front of you as if you were in a fight and try to 'purify' the orb. send the beam directly into it."_

Alex nods and firmly plants both hands onto the orb and focused on it. Their silver SOUL emerged from their chest in front of them, directly between them and the orb.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***[PURIFY]**

Alex sent a beam of pure energy from their soul and into the orb. As soon as the first of the energy entered the machine, lights turned on all over it and the orb began to glow bright red.

The machine began to hum and vibrate as various sounds were created. Alex looks slightly up and sees the determination slowly begin draining into the machine as it continued to shake harder and harder.

Alex felt began to feel fatigued from using so much energy, but they knew it was to save Frisk. Their energy did not falter and fluctuate in the slightest. As the machine began to shake harder and harder, threatening to break, Sans used his magic to hold the machine still as it continued to power up.

Suddenly, a bright white light flooded the room as the sound of a tear and a sonic boom formed and echoed in the room. Reality must have cracked open.

Looking forward, Alex sees a rip in reality within the Soul Canister, and watches a red mist-like substance come out of it and fill the canister.

Suddenly, the red mist compresses itself into the shape of a heart. No… into the shape of a soul. Frisk's soul!

Alex releases the energy they were putting into the artifact and it continued to glow. The soul within the container shook violently and hit the side of the canister, breaking a hole into it.

The moment the soul left the canister, the Legendary Artifact send another beam of white light into the soul, creating the outline of a body. The body was obscured by the amount of light, but it soon faded and revealed Frisk.

Frisk, now back I reality, was set gently on the floor and began to move. Alex and Sans ran over and picked Frisk up and helped them to their feet.

"WWOOOOOOOOO!" Alex cheered. "We did it Sans!"

Sans began to smile as Frisk realized where they were. "Alex?" Alex smiled and covered Frisk in a hug. They both began to laugh. They were both so happy to finally see and touch each other. Nothing could ruin this.

That's when the alarm on the machine started. They all turned back toward the machine and saw the small rip in reality had not gone away. Suddenly, a white mist began to come from it, which solidified into shards of a soul.

This soul, unlike Frisk's, was upside down. A monster's soul. The shards were still separate, until a dark liquid came out from the hole and forced itself upon the shards, pulling the soul together.

As this new soul came out of the machine, more of the mysterious darkness enveloped it and formed into a monster.

It stood about as tall a Papyrus and wore black pants, a black sweater, black shoes, and a white lab coat over all of it. The skeleton had holes in his hands and the cracks in his skull were less like cracks and more like lines. He wore a devious smile as he showed the other six souls orbiting his right hand.

 ** _"AT LAST… I AM FREE…"_**

The three reunited friends took a step back from the monster and ran outside while Gaster stood in the same spot he was in. They all ran outside to see Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys approaching. They met in the center of town.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus ran over and picked up Frisk and laughed with joy, which caused Frisk to laugh for a moment too. "FRISK, IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Undyne and Alphys looked happy too. Sans spoke up, _"hey, um, we should save the reunion for later. we got a bit of a problem."_

Sans pointed back towards his lab. They all looked towards it as nothing happened. They all looked puzzled until they heard a voice behind them.

 ** _"THAT'S NO WAY TO GREET A NEW FRIEND…"_**

They all turned around to see Gaster standing there, smiling. He held out a hand towards them and pointed towards Frisk and Alex.

 ** _"NOW… I DO BELIEVE IT IS TIME TO GIVE ME YOUR SOULS!"_**

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Alrighty then, I think everyone understands what's happening next time. I feel part of the chapter felt rushed, but oh well… Anyway:_**

 ** _First, though, I need to say something. I've become flooded recently with stuff to do and not as much free time as before. I'm taking classes over the Summer that… let's just say 'enjoy laying on the HW'. I've also got a few other things going on, but that's not important!_**

 ** _That, and the fact that this next chapter is very, VERY important, there will likely be a delay before the big battle is uploaded. I apologize in advance for this, and I hope you've enjoyed it thus far._**

 ** _I appreciated all of the love and support from the last chapter. Seeing the reviews and such really brightened up my day. See you all again soon enough._**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	17. Dr W D Gaster

**_Opening Notes:_**

 ** _Hey readers, writers, and other people/monsters. I hope you enjoy this showdown. Before you get into it, I wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate the reviews and the fact you are all taking time to read my story. I've gotten slammed with stuff in college, which has in turn slowed down my speed at writing and submitting these, but I'm trying to get them done. That being said, I have been working on this chapter as quickly and best as I could over the last few days, and this is one of my favorite chapters that I've written. Anyway, I hope you love it, and if you like the chapter, let me know. (You all liked the Sans battle more than I thought you would!) Thanks again._**

 ** _-swrWriter_**

* * *

The snow floated slowly to the ground around the group of monsters and humans. Gaster stood there, a devious smile across his lips. He let out a laugh and bent his head slightly backwards as he did so. He turned back towards Alex and Frisk and spoke, **_"SO, SHALL IT BE THE EASY WAY… OR THE HARD WAY? I'D RATHER NOT HURT ANYONE…"_**

Undyne called him out, "That's utter bullshit. You killed Alex, three other monsters, and did who-knows-what to everyone else!" She was fuming.

"GASTER, IS IT? WE DON'T NEED VIOLENCE TO SOLVE THIS. YOU MAY NOT THINK YOU CAN BE GOOD, BUT THERE MUST SURLY BE GOOD WITHIN YOU!"

Gaster slowly shook his head. **_"PAPYRUS… I KNOW THERE'S GOOD IN ME. THAT'S WHY I'M DOING THIS. NOW, PLEASE, STEP ASIDE."_**

 _"heh, sorry buddy, but that's a no-go."_

"Y-yeah. D-Dr. Gaster… there's no r-reason to hurt them!"

Alex and Frisk smiled, seeing the support from all of their friends. They all firmly held their ground in defiance against Gaster. He frowned and shook his head once more. **_"PLEASE UNDERSTAND I DON'T WANT THIS, BUT…"_**

He looked up and made eye contact with Alex. **_"…I'LL TRY TO MAKE THIS AS PAINLESS AS POSSIBLE!"_**

Gaster clenched both fists and sent darkness in every direction on the ground. Alex closed their eyes, feeling the world shift into monochrome. They felt a horrible chill go down their neck as the world shifted and prepared for this battle. Alex looked over to Frisk and both nodded at each other with confidence.

 ***You're filled with Pure Determination.**

* * *

The darkness of the void was shifting everywhere under your feet as Gaster kept his grin constant. You looked over to see Frisk was ready to fight with you. It was nice to be with Frisk again, though you did wish it was under better circumstances.

The darkness shot up and sealed off you friends from you and Frisk. They could all see the you, but we unable to reach you. They watched carefully. Hopefully they could lend a magical hand if you needed it.

You looked forward to see your soul leave your body and hover right in front of your chest. It was a bright, shiny silver. Looking to your left, you saw Frisk's luscious red soul. They looked at your soul as well and you made eye contact. You both nodded and smiled.

You turned your attention back to the ex-Royal Scientist Dr. Gaster. With his grin still there as he stared at you, he spoke, **_"I'M TRULY SORRY IT HAD TO COME TO THIS. TRY NOT TO RESIST AND I'LL MAKE IT PAINLESS…"_**

He closed both of his eyes for a quick moment as an odd, chilling music began to play out of nowhere. It actually suited him quite nicely. As soon as the music began, he launched into his first attack.

 _{Cue: "Dark, Darker, Yet Darker"} {I recommend the 30 minute version by 'Athrizel', but that's just me.}  
_

He raised a single hand towards you and Frisk, still standing side-by-side, and spread his hand out flat. Following his orders, a horizontal wave of darkness shot out towards you two. You shoved Frisk to the left as you dove right, just in time for the single wave to pass over your heads.

Gaster tilted his hand vertically now as he thrust it forward. Obeying his every command, the darkness sent two horizontal waves; one towards you and the other towards Frisk. Both of you rolled inward and found each other side by side once more.

Gaster smiled and actually put his hand back down by his side. Something wasn't right. That attack was too easy and too quick. Focusing back at the task at hand, you see the familiar choice boxes appear. It was now your turn.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***CHECK QUESTION PURIFY ?**

* **Dr. W. D. Gaster ATK -** ** _ERROR_** **DEF -** ** _ERROR_**

 ***The Ex-Royal Scientist and former occupant of the Void.**

 ***Expert in Time and Darkness. Novice at empathy.**

You were caught off guard by the 'errors' that hid his attack and defense stats. [Boy, it sure sounds like a video game when you put it like that…] It either meant he was never meant to be fought by a human, or they are incredibly high… probably both. He smiled at your confusion.

He shook his head. **_"YOU KNOW… I'LL EVEN GIVE YOU A FIGHTING CHANCE SINCE THAT INFORMATION WASN'T VERY HELPFUL. C'MON NOW… GO AGAIN…"_**

He seemed incredibly smug. Why was he allowing you go again? It made no sense! He was trying to kill you both, after all. Frisk looked over at you. They had the same suspicion-filled expression. Neither of you like this.

Frisk leaned over and whispered, "Try to 'PURIFY' him. Maybe it could help him see that this is wrong?" Frisk didn't sound too certain, but you decided to give it a try anyway.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK QUESTION *PURIFY ?**

 ***Your soul glowed brighter and brighter before you.**

 ***Suddenly, it sent out a massive beam of energy at Gaster.**

 ***…**

 ***Direct Hit!**

You watched the beam soar through the air at the speed of lightning. It impacted him directly in the chest… it actually went right through him. Where the beam impacted was a fist-sized hole that went right through him. His eyes went wide with surprise…

…but then the façade faded. He narrowed his eyes and laughed as the hole closed itself. The beam had no effect on his soul.

 ** _"SORRY TO DISAPPOINT YOU, BUT THAT WON'T WORK ON ME…"_**

Your eyes now widened with realization. Frisk's mouth was wide open too. No one behind you breathed a word, seeing Gaster recover from it instantly. He seemed to stand taller now as he spoke again.

 ** _"I'VE BEEN STUDYING IT THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF OUR OTHER BATTLES. I KNOW HOW IT WORKS AND HOW TO RESIST IT, PLUS…"_**

Gaster held out his hands and showed off the other six human souls. He grinned before continuing, **_"…ALL THE POWER FROM THESE SOULS PROTECT ME!"_**

Gaster clenched both fists and forced the souls to absorb back into him. **_"NOW… WHERE WERE WE? …AHHH, YES. MY TURN!"_**

He smiled wider now as he sent his hands forward towards you and Frisk, commanding the darkness to begin the first real assault.

Suddenly, dark tentacle-like appendages erupted from the floor beneath you and began to grab at you and Frisk. You pulled out The Clavicle and began to slice at them, ripping many of them to shreds.

Suddenly, a pair of them grabbed you tightly and began to constrict. Your arms were pinned by your sides, making it impossible to free yourself. You looked down and saw Frisk holding what appeared to be a dagger.

They jumped, with incredible dexterity, over many of the appendages that tried to capture them. They jumped and sliced them to pieces before turning around and seeing you being constricted and squeezed. You could feel the pain and pressure eating away slowly at your HP.

 ***HP 19/20**

You struggled to be free, but Frisk came to the rescue. They sliced both tentacles with one swing and they dissolved instantly, causing you to plummet. Frisk caught you and smiled, looking straight into your eyes.

Looking deeply into them, you couldn't help but get lost in their beauty and the warmth of their hold was quite nice. You were shaken from your day dream as Frisk, somehow, jumped backwards while holding you. You looked forward and saw another large appendage had just slammed the ground where Frisk had previously been standing on.

You thanked them and hopped out of Frisk's arms to continue dodging the attack.

Gaster remained with a smile on his face. He didn't care you were saved. **_"IT'S ACTUALLY QUITE IRONIC… I HAVE ALL THIS POWER, YET WAS STILL UNABLE TO BE FREE OF THE VOID WITHOUT OUTSIDE HELP…"_** He grinned wickedly and he nodded towards Sans and then towards you.

You went back-to-back with Frisk as you both swung at the darkness, cutting it up and dissolving it anytime it got close to either of you. You continued like this for another few moments before they finally let up.

 ** _"THAT'S WHY I ALLOWED YOU…"_** He pointed towards Frisk, **_"TO REVIVE ALEX. I STILL NEEDED A WAY THROUGH THE VOID. EVEN WITH THE POWER OF EIGHT SOULS… I WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO TRULY ACCOMPLISH MY GOALS FROM THE VOID… SO THANK YOU, ALEX!"_**

He was beginning to remind you of Sans a little bit, with the endless smiling. The difference was that Sans' smiles were normally friendly… you couldn't say the same about Gaster.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK *QUESTION PURIFY ?**

 ***You asked Gaster why he never killed Frisk while they were in there. You told him that must mean he really doesn't want to hurt anyone.**

 ** _"HAHAHA. IS THAT REALLY WHY YOU THINK I NEVER KILLED FRISK? MY, MY, YOU NAÏVE CHILD…"_** He frowned slightly and shook his head side-to-side. He looked back into your eyes, **_"IF I HAD KILLED FRISK, THAT'D FORCE A FILE LOAD. IT WOULD UNDO EVERYTHING I'VE DONE. I CAN ONLY RESTRICT INTENTIONAL LOADS AND RESETS."_**

You looked at Frisk with wonder and confusion. "Y-you mean that if he killed you, you would be sent back in time automatically?" Frisk looked saddened and nodded.

"A-Alex… I have to power to alter time, and Gaster restricted it while I was in the void. However, if I died, it wouldn't matter. I'd still go back." Frisk seemed ashamed of his power. He must be thinking about the bad things that could be done with it. Gaster seemed to be able to read your thoughts.

 ** _"REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO SANS? I SHOWED HIM WHAT ANOTHER FRISK WITH THAT SAME POWER COULD DO!"_**

You turned around to Sans looking down in shame as Papyrus and Alphys inquired about what he was shown. You began to turn back around when you heard Frisk scream at you.

Before you could turn completely around, you felt immense pressure hit your back as you were send flying. You hit the darkness cage that captured your friends. The impact was anything but soft. You felt pain all over your body. You knew you were damaged…

 ***HP 15/20**

You tried to get up, but were still overcome by the shock of the impact. You felt another chill run down your whole body as you felt your soul turn blue.

You felt yourself being propelled backwards. As you looked forwards, you saw a cracked and evil-looking Gaster Blaster fire at the spot that you were laying at only moments ago. After the beam faded, you saw Sans' eye glowing. The glowing stopped immediately after that and you felt your soul return to being silver.

You tried to push yourself to your feet now, but Frisk rushed over and helped pick you up. Now standing side-by-side once more, you were ready to go again.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK *QUESTION PURIFY ?**

 ***You ask Gaster what he really plans to do with this amount of power.**

 ***You ask if he really did have good intentions.**

Gaster's smile actually falters for a moment and replies with a blank stare for a moment before recollecting himself.

 ** _"REALLY… YOU'RE WILLING TO HEAR ME OUT NOW?"_**

Both you and Frisk rapidly nod your head. He smiles at this.

 ** _"VERY WELL. WITH THE POWER OF EIGHT SOULS… I'LL BE ABLE TO CREATE AND DESTROY TIMELINES AT WILL…"_** Your mouth and eyes were as wide as baseballs. Could he really alter the universe with that kind of power? You told yourself that you'd rather not give him the chance to prove his theory.

 ** _"…I'D BE ABLE TO CREATE A SECOND, COMPLETELY DISCONNECTED, UNIVERSE."_**

Alphys spoke up from the cage, "B-but why do you need t-that kind of power?"

"THERE'S NO REASON TO BE HURTING OTHERS! WHY DON'T WE ALL TALK THIS OUT?"

 _"paps, i don't think we can reason with this guy…"_

 ** _"SANS…"_** Gaster looked right at the skeleton. **_"YOU REMEMBER WHAT I SHOWED YOU? WHAT IF THAT 'FRISK' CAME HERE AND KILLED EVERYONE?"_**

Everyone fell silent. He continued, **_"AND HONESTLY, THAT'S NOT EVEN THE MOST DANGEROUS BEING THAT COULD COME HERE AND DESTROY EVERYONE. AND TRUST ME WHEN I SAY I'VE SEEN MY FAIR SHAIR OF DESTROYED TIMELINES BY THESE PEOPLE!"_**

Everyone was unnerved by what Gaster said. Surely, there couldn't be something out there that even scared Gaster, could there? Gaster shook his head slowly and began to attack. **_"NOW THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THE WHY, WHY DON'T YOU HELP ME OUT HERE AND JUST… STOP!"_**

You could almost feel the shadows shifting around you. You and Frisk both dove to the right as another set of arms slammed the air above you. Getting back up quickly, you and Frisk took off to avoid the next part of the attack.

You watched the Gaster Blasters form around you. Unlike Sans' and Papyrus', Gaster's Blasters looked pretty evil and shared the cracks near their eyes with him. You and Frisk dove again as the energy beams went right by you. One of the beams caught Frisk and slammed them away from you. You ran over and literally saw their health go down.

 ***FRISK: HP 15/20**

Those blasters were bad news. You helped Frisk to their feet as you continued to run around to dodge the lasers before Gaster finally dissolved them. It was now time to act again, but you felt a firm grasp on your right arm. You spin around and see Frisk looking into your eyes. They are filled with Determination. You whisper to each other.

"Alex, I have an idea on how to beat this guy."

"You know how we could beat Gaster? How? He has so much power!"

"Follow my lead… and please, trust me." Frisk pleaded with you with puppy eyes. You couldn't help but almost get lost in them again. You tore yourself back to reality and nodded with assurance.

"Frisk… I trust you one hundred percent!"

Frisk smiled at this and nodded with appreciation. It was now time for your move.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK QUESTION PURIFY *FRISK**

 ***You work with Frisk to start the plan.**

 ***Gaster seems confused by this action… but not for long.**

"Hey Gaster!" Frisk shouted this as loud as they could. It immediately got his attention. "Why are you only using a fraction of your power? You must really want to lose!"

Fear flashed and spread across your body. What was Frisk thinking? Was Frisk really willing to anger Gaster and make him use more of his power to destroy them? You turned around and looked at your friends trapped in the cage. They were all flabbergasted as well.

You were about to protest, but you remembered what Frisk said earlier. They most certainly had a plan, even if you couldn't see it now. Time to back them up! You're filled with Pure Determination.

"Yeah Gaster? You told us you would have the power to wipe out time, itself, right? Yet you can't even beat two children!" You have no idea why you were doing this, but you might as well…

Frisk smiled back at you and spoke up again before Gaster could. "You have six human souls worth of power yet you rely on your own power? What a waste!"

You could see the smile fade from Gaster's face instantly. He did not like this train of thought. His mouth twisted into a grimace.

 ** _"YOU… YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH A WAY?"_** Frisk smiled deviously and nodded, "Hell yeah, we do!"

 ** _"VERY WELL. YOU WISH TO ONCE MORE SEE THE POWER OF A MONSTER WITH HUMAN SOULS? BE MY GUEST!"_**

Gaster clenched both of his hands into fists and sent darkness in every direction. As the darkness spread, you could see the six human souls reappear and circle around Gaster, filling him with an unprecedented amount of energy and power.

As the darkness spread, if crept over the cage and picked it up, moving it into the air, floating. It remained high up and out of reach, but close enough to the ground to allow the captives to watch the fight.

Darkness has now enveloped the entire battlefield, making it feel like you were back in the void with Gaster if it weren't for the visible cavern roof high above you. Gaster's smile grew as you and Frisk stood there in shock. Even they were beginning to have doubts about their 'plan'.

Gaster spoke up, now with full power, **_"BEHOLD! I, DR. W. D. GASTER, AM READY TO STRIKE YOU BOTH DOWN."_** His smirk grew, **_"TO GIVE YOU A SPORTING CHANCE, YOU MAY MAKE THE FIRST MOVE… THOUGH IT WILL LIKELY BE YOUR LAST!"_**

You could feel the menu options shifting. This form of Gaster was much different from before. Although he looked almost identical, he had a dark grey aura around him that looked almost like fire. You knew he was radiating with magic.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***[CHECK] [CALL FOR HELP] [TALK]**

* **Omega Gaster ATK - ∞ DEF - ∞**

 ***Master of the Timeline. Soon-to-be Creator and Destroyer of Worlds.**

 ***You hurt his pride. Now, he'll hurt your existence.**

You and Frisk looked once more at each other in fear. What had you done? Gaster smiled evilly and laughed. **_"HAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS PERFECT! NOW, LET'S BEGIN… SHALL WE?"_** You shook your head, but it was a rhetorical question.

He summoned the souls around his hands and decided to focus on you both with the light blue soul. He grabbed that single one in his right hand and gripped it tightly, sending out an energy wave of the same color. He silently ordered the rest of souls back into his body as he used the soul of Patience against you.

Suddenly, he summoned numerous amounts of knives made from the surrounding shadows. You and Frisk went back to back as you both drew your blades. As the knifes approached at incredible speeds, you both worked to parry as much of them as possible.

After the first few sets of waves, Gaster started throwing in blue knives as well. You now had to focus on remaining still for the blue ones and parrying the white ones. It was very tough. In fact, several hit you both you and Frisk. You both would have watched your health deplete if it weren't for the knives that just kept coming.

Frisk and you were both growing tired as the knives kept coming, and the pain of knives impacting your body and soul kept a constant pain present. Finally, the knives stopped as Gaster stood in place smiling. You looked down and gasped in horror.

 ***HP 7/20**

 ***FRISK: HP 4/20**

Your sword must have been more useful because of it's length. You were both sweeting bullets now. Was all of that really from a single attack? This is going to be once tough battle. It was now your turn once more, and you decided to see if help could save you both.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] *[CALL FOR HELP] [TALK]**

 ***You called out for help.**

 ***Your scream echoed in the distance.**

 ***…But Nobody Came…**

Gaster smirked, **_"AHHH… IT SEEMS I WAS MISTAKEN… GUESS IT'LL TAKE TWO TURNS."_**

Gaster, still using the soul of Patience, sent out more knives at you both from every direction. You both prepared your blades for the attack, and you both prepared your minds for the inevitable…

Suddenly, you feel a powerful magic erupt across your body. Your soul became slightly shaded green. You looked behind you and saw Undyne focusing her green magic on your soul. "Go get 'em punks!"

Gaster stared directly at the cage and send darkness speeding towards it. It enveloped the cage and began to dampen the magic. Now, everyone in the cage could only watch. The magic of the darkness prevented any sounds or voices from reaching beyond the cage, preventing magic as well. Your soul returned to its silver color.

You could feel the magic leaving you, but something began resonating in your soul. Your silver soul began to become a slight shade of green, but this wasn't a solid green. No… this was a shiny, silvery-green. You were filled with Pure Kindness.

Dual shields appeared on each of your arms. Every single being around you focused on what just occurred. **_"I-IMPOSSIBLE. HUMANS HAVN'T USED MAGIC IN CENTURIES!"_** Gaster then sent the projectiles towards you once more.

Using the shields on your arms, you began to spin around and stop the knives from impacting you or Frisk as they continued to parry as much as they could. A single knife sped by your shields that caught Frisk off-guard. It impacted them and shaved off more health.

 ***FRISK: HP 1/20**

This was bad. Really really bad. You called out again for help into the darkness… There was no response, causing another laugh to leave Gaster's mouth before the unthinkable happened. Suddenly, the knives froze in place midair and began to shake violently.

The light blue soul of Patience rose out of Gaster's grasp and floated high about all of you. It shined brightly and sent waves of energy in all directions. Once it sent out its final wave, each knife turned into a green bandage and floated towards both you and Frisk, refreshing you both and filling you with energy.

 ***HP MAXED OUT**

 ***FRISK: HP MAXED OUT**

Gaster growled in annoyance and used his darkness magic to force the soul back inside him. He obviously didn't expect the soul to rebel against him and help you. It was now your turn once more. You calmed yourself down and allowed the green in your soul to dissipate, making the shields dissolve.

You looked over back at frisk before you did your turn. Now, you realized something. Perhaps, Frisk's plan was to make the souls rebel against Gaster? If that was the case, you still had a long way to go, but at least now you had a plan!

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] [CALL FOR HELP] *[TALK]**

 ***You told Gaster that there were many paradoxes and holes in his reasoning and actions.**

 ***It doesn't appear that he agrees.**

 ** _"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT MY REASONING IS FLAWED?"_**

"Well, if your really wanted me to free you with the machine, then why kill me with Sans? Why cause so many inconveniences and fights? It doesn't make any sense!"

He looked taken aback by this. He looked like he was thinking back to his actions. He must have seen the flaws that you mentioned, but refused to acknowledge them.

 ** _"A SIMPLETON SUCH AS YOURSELF COULD NEVER COMPREHEND THE PERFECTION OF MY PLAN!"_**

This time, Gaster summoned the orange soul into his hand. The soul of Bravery. It shined brightly as he clenched his fist and summoned its power. Erupting from the darkness came these hand-like objects that looked like gloves. These 'gloves' began to circle the two of you as you prepared for the attack.

You and Frisk both stood back-to-back once more and began to swing your weapons once more. Rather than in careful movements, like before when you parried the blades, you two began to swing as fast as you could to swat away the projectiles that came from every direction.

Then, Gaster, seeing the strategy, made many of the projectiles bigger and orange. This change caused you and Frisk to split up and run through the orange attacks while trying to swat at the gloves. You felt the projectiles begin to surround you and force you to stay away from Frisk. As you focused on yourself for a moment, you heard a frightening sound… Frisk screaming.

You turned and saw the gloves around them turn into fists, which began to pummel Frisk, causing them much pain. You squinted your eyes for a split second and saw it.

 ***FRISK: HP 12/20**

You wanted to help, but your change in attention caused you to be hit by an orange glove in the back, sending you flying. Your HP dropped as a result.

 ***HP 16/20**

You got back up and looked back at Frisk. They were not doing any better.

 ***FRISK: HP 8/20**

Gaster had a proud smile upon his face as he tortured Frisk with the pain. He was purposely distracting you so you could only watch Frisk be tortured and killed. You felt another feeling force itself inside you. You couldn't help but act on this new feeling.

It compelled you to help Frisk, no matter the cost to yourself. You could feel time almost slow to a crawl. Looking around, everything was in slow motion except you. You didn't question it… You are filled with Pure Bravery.

You glanced at your soul, which now had an orange shine to it. You took off at an incredible speed, weaving around the white fists and through the orange ones.

In just a couple of milliseconds you were beside Frisk. You grabbed them and threw their arm over your shoulder. Everything was still in slow motion, but you now noticed Frisk and you were completely surrounded by white projectiles now.

You couldn't let Frisk die! You ran right into the closest projectile, keeping Frisk behind you. It ate away at your HP as you felt the pain erupt across your body in protest.

 ***HP 10/20**

Why did you receive more damage this time? Was it because you were moving at a much quicker speed, making the impact and force of it worse? Probably, but you had to stay focused for your friend.

As soon as you got away from the projectiles, you felt time catch up to you. Frisk was wide eyed in your arms as Gaster's smile of satisfaction was replaced with a grimace of anger. You looked up toward your friends and they had eyes as wide as Frisk's.

What was going on with you? Where was this power and magic coming from? You couldn't dwell on that, since Gaster finished attacking. It was now your opportunity to ACT. You turned to Frisk first, "Frisk, are you ok?"

They smiled, "Yeah, thanks!" Their smile warmed your heart and made it jump… but in a good way. They looked like they wanted to ask how you did what you just did, but decided to put it off until you were both out of imminent danger.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] *[CALL FOR HELP] [TALK]**

 ***You called out for help.**

 ***Your friends wanted to yell out to you… but were unable to do so.**

 ***Gaster seemed pleased by this.**

Though your friends in the cage were unable to assist you directly, they sent out friendly smiles towards you. You knew they were rooting for you!

Gaster sent many, many more gloves at you and Frisk. This time, many of them started off being orange. As you ran, staying together this time, you felt immense pain as you ran through an orange glove. It suddenly turned white, with no prior warning.

 ***HP 6/20**

Gaster smiled deviously. He was now swapping the orange ones to white and the white ones to orange, all of which was at random. Now, with no way to predict which ones were safe and for how long, you both began to dodge all of them.

You kept running around, trying to destroy some of them with your weapons, but every time you swung at one, they turned orange to allow your weapon to pass through harmlessly. It was truly infuriating.

Frisk nudged you and yelled out for help, which you joined them in. As the gloves prepared to impact you both, they all froze midair and vibrated violently.

The orange soul rose out of Gaster's hand, rebelling against its captor, and changed the gloves into green thumbs-up. You and Frisk ran around and grabbed as many as you could before Gaster recaptured the orange soul and destroyed the healing hands.

 ***HP MAXED OUT**

 ***FRISK: HP MAXED OUT**

Gaster was not pleased by this second betrayal. Not one bit. He took a deep breath as he regained his energy to prepare his next attack. You and Frisk were ready to make another move.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] [CALL FOR HELP] *[TALK]**

 ***You asked Gaster if he truly wanted to save you from outside threats.**

 ***He nodded his head in anger, as if it were a stupid, pointless question.**

 ***You then asked why he thought killing them would save them.**

Gaster looked you in your eyes, **_"BECAUSE, WITH BOTH OF YOUR SOULS, I'D BE ABLE TO PROTECT ALL OF YOU AND SAVE YOU ALL FROM A GRISLY FATE!"_**

Frisk shot back another question, "So, you'd kill us in order to save us? You'd torture us to prevent pain? You would ruin our lives so you could make them better?"

Gaster was taken aback by Frisk's questions. For a split second, you could almost see regret in his eyes, which quickly changed to anger. **_"YOU'D NEVER UNDERSTAND! HOW COULD YOU?"_**

Gaster returned his attention to the souls and summoned forth the blue soul of Integrity. Its deep blue light was quickly muffled by the monster's hands as he prepared his attack. Suddenly, what appeared to be ballet shoes and music notes formed within the darkness.

Seeing these form filled your mind with an idea. You reached over and grabbed Frisk's hands. Their eyes opened in shock when you did this. "Frisk, do you trust me?" They narrowed their eyes and nodded, "Absolutely." You smiled in appreciation.

Just as the first of the notes were about to hit you, you took Frisk with both hands and pulled them backwards with you, starting off another dance routine. It reminded you of the fight with Mettaton Neo. Letting the music, although hard to dance to, guide you, you began a two-person dance around the battlefield.

No doubt about it, your friends were likely shocked by your choice in movement for the dodging, but you had no time to look toward them. After all, you were in the zone.

You slid to the right, holding both of Frisk's hands, and continued to spin and slide in different directions. Gaster did not look pleased… then again, he didn't appreciate your dancing last time. Now, he began to send projectiles sweeping low, knowing you didn't have the ability to jump high enough.

You held your soul resonating with the music and the blue soul in Gaster's possession. You felt your soul shine a slight blue color. You were filled with Pure Integrity.

Letting the music guide you onwards, you wrapped a hand around Frisk's waste and jumped with all of your might into the air, striking a sick pose too. You felt much lighter for some reason, allowing you to jump a dozen feet in the air.

You soared high above the wave of ballet shoes beneath you, both you and Frisk were thoroughly enjoying this dance. You looked into their eyes, filled with wonder. You couldn't help but become lost in them, much to your disadvantage.

While you weren't paying attention, another wave of music notes hit you hard in the back of your legs, sending you falling. You impacted the ground on your back, causing a not-so-mild pain to begin. Frisk was in shock, but otherwise unharmed. You looked at your health.

 ***HP 10/20**

Hmm, that fall and impact was actually not as bad as it felt. Frisk cried out for help. Gaster laughed, but it was quickly silenced after the music notes and ballet shoes froze midair. He tried to prevent the soul from revolting, but it was too late.

It burst out of his hands and caused the music notes to turn green. Frisk scooped up a ton of them and threw them into you, healing you completely. Gaster grabbed the soul and forced it away from his sight. He was not happy that half the souls have revolted.

 ***HP MAXED OUT**

"Alex, are you alright?" Frisk helped you to your feet. The pain was still there, but fading fast. You were incredibly thankful for the quick thinking. "Yeah, and all thanks to you Frisk!" Frisk blushed and nodded. Their blushing was kinda cute.

Now, time to act again!

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] [CALL FOR HELP] *[TALK]**

 ***You told Gaster that killing you and Frisk for your souls made a bit of sense.**

 ***He smiled and nodded, thankful for the understanding.**

 ***You then informed him that the deaths of the three monsters were unnecessary.**

 ***His smile faded instantaneously.**

Gaster was being shaken to his core by your well placed questions. He seemed off, like much of what he was doing is unnecessary and against his better judgment. He shook his head. **_"THEY… THEY GOT IN THE WAY. I NEVER WANTED DUST ON MY HANDS, BUT THEY FORCED MY HAND!"_**

"That's horseshit!"

You agreed with Frisk, although you kept your mouth clean, "Yeah, you could have locked them up in a cage like out friends." He looked enraged. This time, he summoned two souls forward, the purple soul of Perseverance and the green soul of Kindness. He grabbed one in each hand and summoned what appeared to be large books and huge frying pans.

It honestly looked ridiculous, and you would have laughed, except… then the fire began to spew out from the pans and large letters in the form of negative, hurtful words began to approach the two of you.

Your normal, silver, soul stood in front of you as both you and Frisk took off away from the raining fireballs of doom. As you two began to duck, roll, and dodge the fireballs, the words began their assault too.

You ran side-by-side with Frisk to avoid the words until a fireball changed direction last minute and hit you in the back, setting your favorite sweater ablaze. You felt the initial damage, but now something new was eating away at your body and soul: KARMA.

 ***HP 18/20**

You felt it burn your insides as you dove onto the floor to put out the flames, and hopefully the KARMA with it. It continued to eat away at your health, but you kept rolling around to extinguish the flames. Finally, they ceased their existence and took the KARMA with it.

 ***HP 13/20**

You looked up to see Frisk using their dagger to swat away the words to protect you as you laid there. After you were clear for a moment, Frisk reached out a hand and you took it, and you were helped back to your feet. You began to take off, now wearing the burnt husk of a sweater, with Frisk until they, too, were hit.

You watched in horror as the fireball took off two health, but then began to eat away at their HP.

 ***FRISK: HP 15/20**

You felt more magic churn and swell within you. Your soul began to glow slightly purple as it was filled with magic. You were filled with Pure Perseverance. You reached a hand out and touched Frisk, which immediately ceased the flames upon them to dissipate and burn you instead. However, it no longer burned you. Instead, you felt almost empowered.

You took the flames of KARMA upon you and began to chuck them at the word-like projectiles, incinerating and destroying them instantly. Gaster was getting angrier by the moment. Finally, the words stopped for a moment and the flames stopped raining down. You knew what that meant!

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] *[CALL FOR HELP] [TALK]**

 ***You called out for help from anyone who could hear you.**

 ***Gaster carefully watched the souls.**

 ***But nothing happened.**

Satisfied that there wouldn't be another rebellion, Gaster started his attack back up again as you and Frisk began to work together to destroy the attacks. They slashed at many of the words as you began to catch the fire that rained down, since your new-found power protected you.

Gaster noticed this and decided to run a little experiment. **_"HMMMM… I WONDER… HOW MUCH KARMA CAN A HUMAN TAKE? LET'S FIND OUT!"_**

Gaster then directed all of the fireballs to seek out and target you. You were unable to do anything but feel the flames of KARMA wash over you. It was beginning to burn you again.

It first felt like you were near a fire. It wasn't burning, but the heat was uncomfortable. Fairly quickly, that discomfort began to shift into mild burns. Almost like you could feel the sunburns forming on a hot day. It only got worse from there.

You felt the heat intensify as the flames continued to pile onto you. The feeling escalated and you could feel blisters forming from the intense heat. It was really burning now. You let out a scream in pain, but tried to remain composed.

Gaster tilted his head slightly and look almost intrigued. **_"HMMM, IT SEEMS THE HUMAN BODY, WHEN UNDER THE POWER OF MAGIC, CAN TAKE QUITE A LOT OF KARMA. I WONDER WHERE THE BREAKING POINT WILL BE?"_** He began to smile wickedly.

You felt the pain and burns get worse and worse. Frisk turned around and tried to approach you to help, but Gaster had a solution. Some of the flames lashed out off of you and burned Frisk.

 ***FRISK: HP 11/20**

You watched them fly backwards as they struggled to get up. Luckily, the flames didn't jump onto them, just inflicted damage for a moment. You looked down at your own HP in horror. It was dwindling now, and you knew that much more KARMA would spell disaster.

 ***HP 4/20**

The burning suddenly flashed in intensity over your entire body while licking your soul, burning it too.

 ***HP 3/20**

You called out for help. You cried out into the darkness for someone to help. It felt almost useless, but you held onto hope. Perhaps the souls would rebel again. You hoped they would. Then… they did!

The flames disappeared from your body and the words disappeared. Gaster tried to prevent the souls from helping you, but they still managed. Nice, encouraging green words flowed forth from the large energy books and green eggs came out of the oversized frying pans above you.

You felt the green healing magic wash over you and heal both you and Frisk. Before you could fully regain health, Gaster pulled the souls back down and under his control again.

 ***HP 17/20**

 ***FRISK: HP MAXED OUT**

Gaster was looking really pissed now. His little experiment failed and the souls were refusing to listen to him. It was time to make another move. You and Frisk returned to each other before you ACTed again.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] [CALL FOR HELP] *[TALK]**

 ***You told Gaster that the power of the souls was getting to his head.**

 ***You told Gaster that his time in the Void has made him numb.**

 ***…**

 ***He didn't disagree…**

He stood still for a moment before summoning forth the six human soul: The yellow soul of Justice. As he channeled the energy to form large shadow-created guns, Frisk turned towards you and threw you a phone-looking device.

They smiled at you, "You're better at using magic than I am. Press the yellow button." You did as you were told and pressed the only yellow button on the phone. It then began to send shocks of electricity through your body and soul.

You watched your soul in front of you turned 180 degrees with the point of the heart-shaped soul facing outwards. Suddenly, your silver soul gained a yellow hue and glow. You were filled with Pure Justice.

Now you were ready for the sixth soul's attacks from Gaster. The guns began to open fire as you dashed to the left. Half of them focused on you as the other half focused on Frisk. You held out your right hand towards Gaster as you felt the magical electricity surge though you.

You opened your hand as wide as you could with your palm facing Gaster. As you focused on the power of your soul, you could almost feel it move into your palm as you felt a solid beam of silver energy flow through the air at a breathtaking speed towards Gaster. It was similar to the 'PURIFY' beams, but there were splashes of yellow within the beam.

The beam, originating from your yellow-stained silver soul in your palm, hit Gaster directly. Rather than punch a hole through him like last time, it sent the energy surging through him. You focus intently on him until bullets of pure darkness from the guns go close to you.

Maintaining the constant beam, you swept it over the bullets, causing them to disintegrate. As soon as you were in the clear, you refocused the beam upon Gaster, sending more shockwaves through him.

His expression was one of surprise. He looked off and his attacks seemed to be faltering. Pretty soon thereafter, the guns stopped firing and you stopped the beam of energy from flowing out towards Gaster.

Frisk ran back over to you without a scratch as you made eye contact and smiled to each other. It was time to make another move.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] *[CALL FOR HELP] [TALK]**

 ***You shouted towards the soul of Justice to resist Gaster. You pleaded for help.**

 ***It remained silent before rebelling immediately.**

Maybe it was because of your energy on Gaster. Perhaps it was that he was simply becoming exhausted from the fight. Hell, maybe Gaster simply gave up on his mission. Whatever the reason, the soul rose into the air and sent four leaf clovers towards you and filled replenished your energy and health.

 ***HP MAXED OUT**

Gaster silently commanded the soul to return to him as he remained motionless in front of you and Frisk. Did you win? Was it finally over?

Slowly, a smile crawled its way upon Gaster's face as he stared you down. He laughed as he summoned all six souls at once. **_"REALLY NOW, DID YOU REALLY THINK IT WAS OVER?"_**

Actually, you were really hoping it was, but you kept your mouth shut. His grin grew wider as he continued, **_"I CONTROL REALITY. ALL YOU DID WAS KEEP ME ENTERTAINED. NOW THAT I'M DONE… LET'S END THIS!"_**

With the six souls floating around his right hand, he reached it out and aimed it at the two of you. A sudden blast of dark energy washed over you as you felt all of the previous damage recovered and pain numbed come flooding back.

You felt the intense burning sensation of the flames of KARMA. You felt the bruises reform on your back from the impact on the ground. The slight concussion with the cage returned. Intense pain erupted across your body as you fell to the ground in agonizing pain. You quickly caught sight of your HP.

 ***HP 0.1/20**

You had no idea how it got below one, but you knew this was certainly not a good thing. Frisk was in pain beside you as well, although it wasn't quite as bad as yours. Gaster laughed at the pitiful display on the ground by the two of you.

 ** _"YOU KNOW, YOU ALMOST HAD ME GOING WITH WHAT YOU SAID EARLIER…"_** He broke eye contact for a moment. He looked back, not emotionless, **_"I… I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT IT PAINS ME TO DO THIS TO YOU… BUT IT HAS TO BE DONE."_**

He raised his right hand again and you could see the charging of another beam of energy, but something was off about it. He released the beam and it impacted you both directly… but it didn't hurt at all. Instead, you felt the pain subside. You felt the burns and bruises and concussion retreat back into the void.

 ***HP MAXED OUT**

He looked in disbelief as you and Frisk returned to your feet. Frisk was smiling. Gaster was not. The six souls floated overhead all of them. Gaster turned towards Frisk and saw the smile upon their face. He scowled. **_"WHAT... WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?"_**

"I thought you saw this timeline and others? Don't you remember Flowey? The souls ALWAYS rebel against their captor!" You finally understood all of Frisk's plan. If Gaster got the souls involved, then they would rebel against Gaster and take away his power.

Gaster's eye widened with realization. His body was still covered in the grey flame/glow from earlier. Frisk spoke again, "I don't have to tell you what they will do next…" Gaster's eyes widened in horror as he seemed to realizes what was about to happen.

You had no idea what was about to occur, but you knew you shouldn't ask and just watch. Suddenly, all six souls sent a beam of energy, that match each of their colors, into you and your soul. The power and magic was incredible. You almost became lost to the power and you felt the craving for more, but you resisted.

You heard voices in your head, and they all said the exact same single word: 'PURIFY'. You happily obliged, sending a massive burst of white energy into Gaster. You watched him be lifted off his feet as the black fog around him was dissolved and the grey flame extinguished. The whole world faded into white.

 _{End of music?!}_

* * *

After a moment or two, you felt your sight return. Everything around you was white. Frisk and the others were absent. Where was this place? Where were you? You looked forward to see a familiar figure. Before you knelt Gaster, at your complete mercy. He was weak. He was vulnerable. He was… different?

You saw that all of the grey and darkness upon Gaster was gone. The only black upon him now was his clothes. His eyes now had a color to them. His right eye was green and his left eye was purple. You felt like they were only colored when he felt certain ways or experienced certain emotions.

He looked you in the eyes and you saw a single expression within them and on his face: Fear. He was afraid. Of what, exactly, though? Was it fear of your impressive might, power, and cunning? Maybe. Was he, perhaps, afraid of his consequence? Maybe. Who knew, exactly.

You took a step towards him and saw the appearance of two menu options. They appeared on either side of him.

 **[FIGHT]** or **[MERCY]**

He looked at both options and his eyes widened further in fear. He seemed very worried. The Void may have been a fate worse than death, but it obviously didn't give Gaster any comfort seeing as this could be his end. You stood there before the two options.

You really didn't want to hurt anyone. You want to save Frisk and all of your new friends, after all. You hated violence. That being said, Gaster was a horrible creature that tortured you and your friends. Hell, he even killed you. Did he really deserve mercy? Ultimately, it was up to you.

You think you finally made your decision. It wasn't easy to come to, that's for sure. You prepared to take another step forward and make your decision…

Except…

Gaster spoke up. He looked you right in the eyes for a moment, holding the eye contact. A single tear rolled down his face from his left eye. He spoke a single sentence before you made your decision.

 ** _"I… I'M SORRY…"_**

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes:  
_**

 ** _So, more coming soon. This was a day late because of stuff (Please see above), and there won't be an upload tomorrow. I'll try to get the next part up early next week. Maybe as early as Sunday. Who knows? I may only upload twice a week with the work I have going on, so there's that too. Stay tuned and thanks a ton for the support. A skele-ton.  
_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	18. CONTINUE

There was no hesitation in Alex's choice. They reached forwards and chose the option on their right: MERCY. Gaster's mouth opened in surprise. He was being spared. He locked eyes with Alex while they were both still in this white nothingness.

 ** _"…WHY…?"_**

Alex looked into Gaster's eyes closely and saw the fear and worry be replaced with confusion. "Why what? Why did I spare you?"

Gaster nodded, **_"AFTER EVERYTHING I DID. AFTER ALL THE PAIN I CAUSED TO YOU AND FRISK… YOU ARE WILLING TO SPARE ME? I… I DON'T DESERVE THIS."_**

Gaster took a step forward and put a hand on Gaster's shoulder, smiling softly. "Everyone deserves mercy. Even after everything you did, you deserve a second chance."

 ** _"WHY? I KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING WHEN I DID ALL THAT…"_**

He bowed his head in sadness for a moment before continuing, **_"YOU AND FRISK WERE PARTIALLY CORRECT… THE VOID AND THE SOULS… THEY DID EFFECT ME AND MY BEHAVIOR GREATLY, BUT I STILL CONTROLLED MYSELF. I STILL CHOSE TO DO ALL OF THAT."_**

Alex remained silent as Gaster continued confessing, **_"I KILLED THOSE MONSTERS. I KILLED YOU. I TORTURED FRISK. I HURT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS. I… I EVEN HURT MY OWN TWO SONS…"_** When he mentioned his sons, tears began to appear in his eyes.

 ** _"…MY GOD… MY SONS… HOW COULD I EVER LOOK THEM IN THE EYE AFTER ALL OF THIS?"_** Alex's heart began to ache for Gaster. Sure, he did some pretty horrible things, but he seemed almost remorseful and regretful.

"Gaster…" He looked up at Alex, "What did you see, exactly, in the Void that made you do this? What were your original intentions?"

 ** _"THE VOID ALLOWED ME TO SEE THROUGH TO OTHER TIMELINES. NOT ALL OF THEM, OR ANYTHING I WANTED, JUST SOME OF THEM. I SAW ONE IN WHICH FRISK ENACTED A GENOCIDE UPON ALL OF THE MONSTERS IN THE UNDERGROUND BEFORE, ULTIMATLY, DESTORYING THEIR OWN TIMELINE."_**

Alex's eyes opened in shock, hearing it from Gaster first hand. "So you were afraid of this 'Frisk' coming here and destroying us all?"

Gaster shook his head slowly, **_"I KNEW THOSE SPECIFIC FRISKS COULD NOT HARM THIS, SEPARATE, TIMELINE. HOWEVER, THERE WAS MORE I WITNESSED. I SAW BEINGS THAT COULD TRAVEL BETWEEN TIMELINES AND REALITIES AT WILL. SOME WISHED ONLY TO HELP, WHILE OTHERS…"_**

Gaster paused for a moment and cleared his throat, **_"…OTHERS WENT AROUND DESTROYING TIMELINES. AND NOT JUST ANY RANDOM ONES, THESE ONES WERE CHOSEN FOR THEIR ANOMALIES."_** Gaster stood up and looked them in the eye.

"Anomalies? So, I'm an anomaly? I shouldn't exist?" Alex felt their heart almost tear into two. They have always been told they were a mistake. They weren't really loved or cared for by anyone. The only person who cared about the before you fell Underground was Frisk. Sadness flooded Alex's mind as tears began to form.

Gaster looked almost frightened by this, **_"WHAT IS MEANT BY AN ANOMALY IS THAT YOU ARE UNIQUE TO THIS TIMELINE. IN NO OTHER INSTANCE IN THE MULTIVERSE HAS THERE BEEN SOMEONE LIKE YOU: WITH A SILVER SOUL AND A FRIEND LOOKING TO SAVE FRISK. YOU'RE UNIQUE, NOT A MISTAKE."_**

Alex weakly smiled at the attempt to cheer them up. They DID feel a little bit better now. Alex looked back at Gaster as they continued. **_"THESE BEINGS HAVE BEEN GOING AROUND AND DESTROYING TIMELINES WITH ANOMALIES, AND I KNEW WE WERE ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK. THAT'S WHY I REACTED…"_**

Gaaster's gaze fell in shame. **_"ALTHOUGH… I DO REGRET MANY OF THE THINGS I DID. I WAS SO FOCUSED ON THE END RESULT THAT I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE PROCEDURE. AS I HAVE HEARD HUMANS SAY: "THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS."_**

There was an uneasy silence for a moment as Alex attempted to absorb this information. There were people out there with unfathomable amounts of power that used it to destroy entire realities. Alex finally spoke up and asked the most important question, "Gaster… how long do we have?"

 ** _"ALEX, WHEN I TOOK FRISK SIX MONTHS AGO I ESTIMATED WE HAD BETWEEN 3-5 WEEKS. NOW I ESTIMATE WE HAVE ABOUT A YEAR, ACCORDING TO THE MULTIVERSE."_**

"H-how did this number change so greatly?"

 ** _"EVERY ACTION I DID WAS TO SERVE A SPECIFIC PURPOSE. WHEN I DESTROYED THE THREE MONSTERS. WHEN I TOOK CONTROL OF SOME MOSTERS AND FOUGHT YOU. THOUGH I REGRET WHAT I DID, I DID IT FOR A SPECIFIC REASON…ALEX, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF: THE MANY-WORLDS INTERPRETATION?"_**

Alex shook their head. It sounded almost familiar, but they didn't know what it exactly meant. Gaster continued, **_"IT CLAIMS THAT, BASICALLY, THERE ARE AN INFINITE NUMBER OF UNIVERSES IN WHICH EVERYTHING THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED, DID IN ANOTHER UNIVERSE. IT VIEWS TIME AS A BRANCHING TREE. THE MORE DISRUPTIONS AND LARGE EVENTS THAT I CREATED, THE MORE IT BRANCHED OFF AND CREATED ALTERNATE POSSIBILITES."_**

"So, when you mentioned earlier that you would be able to create and destroy timelines, you meant you were already doing so?"

 ** _"YES, THE BRANCHES THAT I CREATED HAVE CLOUDED AND SHIELDED US FROM THOSE BEINGS, MAKING IT VERY HARD TO FIND THE ORIGIN, THUS BUYING US PRECIOUS TIME."_**

"So, what? You're going to continue to work to split us off from the multiverse completely?"

Gaster stood up straighter now, **_"YES, IT IS OUR BEST SHOT AT SURVIVAL! HOWEVER, I PLAN TO USE 'LESS EXTREME' METHODS SINCE I HAVE MORE TIME."_**

Alex felt angry, hearing that Gaster would be trying to do it again. "That's stupid and selfish!" Gaster looked taken aback by their anger and remark. He replied, **_"AND WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO? WAIT UNTIL THEY COME HERE?"_**

"But you'd allow countless more timelines to be erased while we go and hide in a corner, meekly hoping they never find a way to us?"

Gaster was caught off guard with the response. He didn't expect a response to his question with a question. **_"…"_** There was silence everywhere and from everyone one. Neither of them dared to respond for a moment.

"Why can't we try to stop them? Why can't we just try to save as much as we can?"

Gaster still remained in silence. He pondered Alex's words for a moment. Could there really be a way to stop them? Nonsense, Gaster has never seen someone try to stand up to these beings and succeed. But, then again, there has never been a timeline quite like this one. Perhaps there would be a way, but he'd have to think much longer to come up with an idea.

Gaster locked eyes with Alex and used some of his magic. His green and purple eyes flashed and glowed with a fire, similar to Sans' eye, and created a small, swirling vortex on the ground. You watched as Frisk was brought to where you both were. Speaking of, "Where are we, exactly, Gaster?"

As Frisk was set onto the ground beside you, unconscious, Gaster spoke, **_"WHEN THE POWER OF THE SOULS COMBINED, IT CREATED A SMALL, POCKET DIMENSION FOR THE TWO OF US TO RESIDE IN FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. SOMETHING SIMILAR OCCURRED WHEN FRISK DEFEATED FLOWEY."_**

Alex remembered Flowey quite well. That menacing little flower had tried to kill them right from the start. Actually, it was kind of odd that Flowey never showed back up. Gaster seemed to have read their thoughts, **_"OH, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT FLOWEY. HE HAS BEEN WATCHING EVERYTHING FROM A DISTANCE. HE MAY NOT HAVE A SOUL, BUT HE CERTAINLY DOES HAVE A BRAIN… FIGURATIVLY, I MEAN."_**

Flowey didn't have a soul? That's awful. Perhaps that was why he was so evil when they first met. Alex wanted to try to help Flowey out, but that was a problem for another day. Alex looked down and saw Frisk stirring. They stood up and saw you for a brief second before Alex swallowed them in a hug.

They both laughed and cried tears of joy. They did it. They beat Gaster. After another moment of comfort, the two let go and turned back towards Gaster. Alex saw fear in Frisk's eye and tried to calm them down. "It's ok Frisk, he's not going to hurt us." Frisk still looked worried, but nodded.

Gaster spoke up, **_"FRISK… HERE…"_**

You watched as Gaster summoned golden energy from nowhere and forced it to separate into two blobs. The two floating liquid blobs spun around and stretched into thin strands as they formed into rectangles. The rest of the energy formed words within the boxes to show two, unique, menu options. These were quite different then the four you were used to.

 **[CONTINUE]** and **[RESET]**

Frisk's eyes bulged as Gaster sent the newly reformed options towards Frisk. They stopped about foot away from Frisk and stayed in the air. Frisk put on a face of confusion and tilted their head while looking straight into Gaster's eyes.

 ** _"I'M SIMPLY RETURNING WHAT IS YOURS. AND I HAVE A REQUEST…"_**

Frisk and Alex both looked puzzled. **_"BEFORE THIS POCKET DIMENSION FADES… PLEASE PRESS CONTINUE… LOAD YOUR SAVE…"_**

Frisk gasped. Alex stood there in confusion. "What's going on? What does he want you to do Frisk?"

 ** _"ALEX, YOU NEVER SAVED WHILE YOU WERE IN THE UNDERGROUND, THUS LEAVING FRISK'S FILE INTACT…"_** Gaster motioned towards Frisk as Alex turned to look at them.

"If I 'CONTINUE', it would rewind time by six months, back to near when I first fell down and right before Asgore died."

Alex was amazed. Frisk could undo everything that has gone wrong? That's incredible, but then Frisk continued, "But… If I do that, Gaster would be returned to the void and everyone but me, Flowey, and Gaster would forget the last six months. It would be like none of this ever happened!"

Alex turned towards Gaster once more as he sadly nodded, **_"ALEX, YOU WILL LIKELY FORGET EVERYTHING TOO… ALTHOUGH…"_** Gaster rubbed his chin lightly for a moment while thinking, **_"…PERHAPS YOUR SOUL WOULD ALLOW YOU TO REMEMBER. WHO KNOWS, BUT IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO TEST."_**

Alex then spoke up, "But it would undo all of the damage done? The king and other three monsters would be alive still?"

Gaster nodded and Alex asked another question, "What about you, though? You'll be back in the Void!"

 ** _"I FEAR GOING BACK… BUT PERHAPS IT IS FOR THE BEST…"_** Gaster paused for a moment before thinking to himself, then continued, ** _"BESIDES, IF I TRULY CONCERN YOU, YOU COULD ALWAYS USE SANS' MACHINE TO BRING ME BACK."_**

Frisk and Alex looked to each other for a moment. Frisk spoke next, "Alex, what do you think?" Alex remained silent for a moment before answering. "Y-yeah, I think we should do it. Maybe I'll remember all of this and come back ASAP."

Frisk smiled at the thought of being with Alex in the Underground. Alex spoke up again, "Hey Gaster, I'll help free you from the Void again if you promise something." Gaster tilted in his head, wondering what on earth could Alex be aiming for.

Gaster smiled lightly, **_"WHAT IS YOUR REQUIREMENT?"_**

Alex crossed their arms and looked directly into Gaster's eyes, "No more violence and sacrifice; instead, find a way to stop the 'bad guys' instead of running and hiding!"

Gaster frowned slightly and nodded slowly. This was not ideal, but he could work with this. **_"ANYTHING ELSE?"_**

"Yes! And… I want you to apologize to everyone for what you did!" Alex put on a pouting face, almost like they were a little kid. (Which they kinda were, but shhh, don't tell them that!)

Gaster sighed, **_"VERY WELL, I AGREE TO THE TERMS."_**

Alex and Frisk were beaming with smiles across their faces. They high fived each other before wrapping themselves up into another hug, this time with Gaster. **_"I… I DON'T DESERVE THIS KINDNESS…"_**

"Just shut up and give Alex and me a hug!" Gaster shut his mouth and did as he was told, hugging them both closely. After a few moments, they separated and Frisk turned toward the options. They hesitated RESETing everyone's memories.

"G-Gaster, is there a way to bring back everyone's memories?" Asked Frisk.

Gaster scratched his chin, **_"PERHAPS WHEN I RE-ENTER THE TIMELINE, THE MEMORIES OF WHAT HAPPENED MAY COME BACK ALONG WITH THE MOMORIES OF ME. ULTIMATLY… I'D GIVE IT A 50/50 CHANCE."_**

Frisk nodded but still hesitated. They'd only used their powers to go back minutes, one time an hour. They've never tried something like this. They felt a light pressure on their shoulder.

Alex put their hand on Frisk's shoulder to help calm them. "Frisk… it's ok. I'll find you, I promise."

Frisk nodded and looked towards Gaster. Gaster tried to put on a friendly smile. He knew he was returning to the void, but hopefully he wouldn't be there for long. **_"SEE YOU LATER, FRISK… GOOD LUCK!"_**

Frisk, now calmed down, softly smiled and put their hand over the **[CONTINUE]** button. Frisk spoke one last sentence, "I'll meet you in the Ruins, Alex!". At that, they pressed their hand on the button and felt reality slip away from them.

* * *

It felt so weird, seeing the swirl of colors all around them, but Alex tried to remain focused. A series of images flashed through their mind.

They saw the battle against Gaster, running at incredible speeds. Then, it flashed to spinning through the air to dodge bone walls with Sans. Next, they saw themselves dancing with Undyne while dodging energy beams. Then, the multicolored color flames of Grilby wizzed around them with Papyrus helping them survive. Suddenly, they saw themselves dodging Chara's knives with Sans.

They were then flying upwards, reversing the fall into the Underground. They saw themselves talking with the police about Frisk and then they saw themselves going to sleep. The images kept flashing, showing everything that was being undone. Then… it all went white.

Suddenly, Alex's eye flew open as they saw they were sitting in a seat in the orphanage. Where were they? What was happening? Wait… Alex then remembered the Underground… and their Friends… and… FRISK! And the RESET! It all must have been real!

Suddenly, an old woman wearing a full length green dress and shoulder length brunette hair walked in. She was probably in her late forties, and she did not look happy, especially with Alex being there. And the feeling was mutual. Alex hated Ms. Pore, and she basically hated everyone else.

"So, Alex, what brings you here today?" She spoke monotone.

Alex remembered what happened today. He finally told an adult that Frisk was missing. She wouldn't do anything other than call the police, but she'd blamed them for doing something to Frisk. She was always a horrible person.

"Oh, umm…" What should they say?! What should they say?! What should they say?! C'mon, some sort of excuse. Anything! Hmmm, "...mmmmm, oh yeah. Are we going to go to the beach this Summer again?"

Ms. Pore narrowed her eyes towards Alex and shook her head with a frown on her face. She sighed loudly before replying, "I already told you Alex, we're not traveling this Summer. Is that why you really came in here? To waste my time?"

Alex drooped their head slightly. Now that they thought about it, she DID already announce that. It was probably just yesterday (or six months ago, who knew?) that she announced it. She spent the next few moments yelling at Alex before sending them out of the office.

As soon as Alex was away from that banshee, they took off down the hall and outside. It was another hot day in May. Alex sure missed the cooler days of November six month from now. Once outside, Alex looked west and saw the large mountain in the distance known as Mount Ebott.

With a smile on their face, they ran to the woods nearby and toward the mountain. It was time to find Frisk.

 ***You're filled with Purity**

* * *

Frisk opened their eyes to see the familiar sight of a doorway. This wasn't just any doorway. This one led to the barrier. Frisk knew that if they went back in there, Asgore would likely meet the same fate as before, and that was something they really wanted to avoid this time.

 _Hmmm, what was it that Flowey told them so long ago? Something about not doing something? Gosh! What was it? Curse their stupid memory._

 **I believe it was something about Alphys.**

 _Chara! You're back! I haven't heard from you in so long! What happened?_

 **Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down Frisk. When Gaster took you, he ripped me from you and tried to make a deal with me. I refused and betrayed him… and he didn't take it very well.**

 _Well, I'm glad you're back Chara. I missed you! …and your soothing, calm voice._

 **Now now Frisk, how about you not try to flirt with me too.**

 _Ok, ok. Fine… So what were you saying about Alphys?_

 **Flowey said something about being a better friend to Alphys, so why don't we go check on her?**

 _Oh right… but first I gotta see someone else!_

 **Who?**

 _Alex. They're my best friend!_

 **Alex… oh…**

 _What?_

 **Hey Frisk… Did Alex tell you about… about when we fought?**

 _No… but I watched most of it because of Gaster…_

 **Oh… I'm sorry Frisk…**

 _No need, Chara. I forgive you!_

 **Thanks Frisk…**

 _So, let's go find Alex!_

Frisk continued back into Judgment Hall and through the King's home back towards the Core. Frisk and Chara continued silent a silent conversation, catching each other up on what had happened. The only question was: How were they going to tell Alex about Chara.

* * *

Gaster stood silently in the Void. It sucked. It really, really sucked. But… this was his fate. Or, at least, it was… until Frisk and Alex did everything they did. Sure, rewinding and undoing the last six months could have made the timeline 'normal' again, but Alex has already altered it for good.

Gaster smiled to himself as he watched two screens. One showed Alex climbing the mountain and the other showing Frisk approaching the door to the Ruins. **_"HMMMM, I GUESS THAT MEANS ALEX IS IMMUNE TO RESETS… INTERESTING."_** This timeline was very, very interesting, no doubt about that.

Perhaps… a better, different ending could be achieved. Who knew? This was uncharted territory. Whelp, time to continue watching the pair of humans return to each other.

 ** _"LET'S SEE WHERE THIS GOES…"_**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Alrighty then!**

 **If you celebrate Memorial Day: Happy Memorial Day! If you don't: Hope your Monday doesn't suck!**

 **Anyway, this chapter was almost all dialog, and I apologize for that but don't worry. Next chapter will have events and action and stuff! Won't be another fight, but stuff will occur. Do ya like what I've done? Let me know via review or PM, I also appreciate any and all feedback. Now, I'm gonna go work on the next chapter, and I hope the chapter was ok. I feel like some of it was kinda rushed… so, sorry about that too. I hope the twists, turns, and story are entertaining enough for ya! And have a good day!**

 **-swrWriter**


	19. Reunion in the Ruins

San's surroundings flashed into existence as he took in his surroundings. What happened? Where was he? Tons of questions popped into his mind when they were all answered. He was in his room in his house. Papyrus and Undyne were likely downstairs hanging out. Everything was alright… yet something felt wrong…

It was Déjà vu. It all felt wrong, almost like… almost like there was… then it clicked. The kid must have done a file load, but that's odd. Usually when they did a file load he only felt slightly odd, but now Sans felt very uneasy. Something was wrong, and he didn't know what! Perhaps his Lab would have the answers. If something really did occur, his sensor would have picked up and recorded them.

Sans walked out of his room and looked over the railing to see Undyne and Papyrus on the couch watching some T.V. Papyrus looked up and saw Sans standing there.

"SANS! YOU JUST MISSED IT!"

 _"what? missed what?"_

"THE HUMAN, FRISK, THEY WERE ON TV WITH METTATON JUST ABOUT AN HOUR AGO! YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN IT IF YOU WEREN'T NAPPING AND WASTING YOUR TIME!"

 _"sorry bro, i guess you could see i 'slept' up."_ Sans had his grin of pride as he made the pun, much to Papyrus' disdain.

"ALREADY SANS? REALLY?"

Sans continued grinning as he walked down the stairs and stopped only a few feet from the couch. "THERE'S PLENTY OF ROOM ON THE COUCH FOR THREE, SANS! C'MON AND JOIN US. I'M SURE UNDYNE WILL MOVE OVER."

Undyne sighed, but remained silent otherwise. Something felt off with her too. And something about Sans made her feel almost… fearful maybe? No, that can't be right! There's nothing to fear about Sans except for his frightening skill at avoiding his Sentry duties.

 _"sorry bro, but i have somewhere to be..."_ Papyrus sighed, which made Sans feel kinda bad for trying to ditch him for the Lab. Maybe he could go check it out later. Besides, Frisk would probably show up around here eventually after whatever happened.

 _"…actually bro, i think i'll be lazy and stay here for now."_ Papyrus beamed with joy while Undyne frowned at the laziness. "EXCELLENT! I'M SURE ANOTHER SHOW WILL BEGIN SHORTLY!"

Sans smiled as he sat down on the couch between Undyne and Papyrus. It was about time he stopped worrying and just lived a little bit. Frisk wasn't like Flowey, after all. Perhaps there wouldn't be any RESETs from them. Only time would tell, and right on cue, a logo for another show popped up on screen.

* * *

Alex was staring at the large hole before them. It was frightening to be near it again. Even knowing that they would survive the fall, they still stood petrified of the thought of willingly falling. Heights terrified Alex, and the only reason they got close to the hole the first time was because the idea of finding Frisk outweighed their fear.

Alex turned around and picked up the coil of rope they brought with them. With a simply toss, one end of the rope flew down the hole as they other end was tied to a rock. Once it stopped falling, Alex tested the rope quickly to make sure it wouldn't break. This time, they'd try to climb partway down.

After a few minutes of self-encouragement and pep talks, Alex finally reached out and grabbed the rope with both hands. Slowly but surely, against every fiber of their being discouraging them, they began to descend down the hole into the Underground.

While slowly descending and looking up the entire time, Alex was trying to remain calm as they focused on seeing Frisk again. Their arms were aching already and they knew the rope wouldn't reach all the way to the bottom, but they continued down. Both legs were wrapped around the rope too as they continued further and further down. The sunlight above them was far away now and they continued to descend.

Finally, they felt the end of the rope brush against their legs. This was the end of the line, literally. Against better judgment, they looked down. They could see the bed of flowers they originally landed on, but that was still pretty far away. If they had to guess, maybe thirty feet or more.

Hyperventilation began to set in as panic spread across their body. They no longer had the strength to climb back up the rope, even if they wanted to. Their only option was to let go and hope they landed on the flowers once more. They tried to calm themselves, but knew their fear would not settle until they were back on solid ground.

Finally, before they were forced to do so by exhaustion, Alex simply let go and fell backwards for the remaining distance. Then… bam! They impacted the bed of flowers, but it was a much softer landing than the first time, which was a relief.

Other than the exhaustion from climbing down slowly, Alex was in perfect and pristine condition. They sat up and got to their feet to try to make their way towards the house on the far side of the Ruins. Toriel's house, if they remembered correctly.

They passed through the first doorway to the next room and saw the familiar patch of grass. Sitting, or standing (who knew), in the patch was the familiar figure of a flower. Luckily, with their experience from past fights, Flowey wouldn't be able to hurt them this time. Alex took a few steps forward until they were only a few feet from the flower.

Flowey turned around and looked Alex in the eyes with a neutral expression on his face… that is, until they realized it was Alex, which then prompted his face to change to one with an evil smirk.

"Boy, I knew all the kids that fell down here were idiots, but you definitely take the cake. No one's stupid enough to fall down here twice!"

"What's your problem Flowey?"

"Golly, you remember little old me? I'm flattered!" Flowey formed a fake smile and expression of pride before turning back to a smirk. "And my problem? It's you and Frisk. You two frickin idiots keep doing everything wrong." To emphasize his point, Flowey proceeded to yell at Alex and repeat wrong over and over again. "WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!"

"What? You wanted Frisk to RESET, right?"

"Yeah, but does this LOOK like a RESET to you? No, they just continued from their old save point, but that works too."

"What's your deal Flowey?"

Flowey rolled his eyes. "My deal? I'll tell you what my deal is! This world is MINE! I am the prince of this world! I should have the power to RESET, LOAD, and CONTINUE… but nnnooooooooo… Frisk had to take it from me…" Flowey then pointed a leaf on his stem towards Alex.

"…and YOU! Ever since you showed up, the timeline has been all wrong! You and Gaster aren't doing it right!"

"There's no 'right' and 'wrong' way to do it Flowey. And you should stop calling people idiots, it's not very nice." Alex stated matter-of-factly

Flowey put on a sarcastic face, "Oh, I'm SO sorry about that! I had NO idea that me stating the obvious was hurting your feelings! I had NO idea! IDIOT!"

"Don't you have someone else to bother, Flowey?"

"Nah, I'm fine just bothering you! In fact,…" Suddenly, Alex was surrounded by a large amount of 'friendliness pellets'. So much so that they would be unable to dodge them. "…you really are a huge idiot. Did you really think I was just going to let you go? I think it's time to give me your soul!"

The pellets began to move closer to Alex, preparing to hit them hard. "Now… DIE!" Flowey began to laugh maniacally as the bullets drew closer and closer to Alex. Then, out of nowhere, they were all swatted away by fireballs. Flowey's smile faded. He knew what was coming.

"You again? Bothering another innocent youth?" They female voice sent another fireball directly at Flowey, but he disappeared into the ground before it hit. Alex knew that wasn't the last they'd see of Flowey. Alex then turned towards the voice and saw a familiar sight.

Now in front of them, Toriel stood, wearing a purple robe with a cool emblem on it. It was the same emblem/ symbol that Alex had seen everywhere in the Underground. Toriel approached Alex and held out a paw towards them. Alex took it and was lifted back up to their feet.

"What a miserable creature, attacking such an innocent child such as yourself." Alex smiled at the concern on her face. "I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. What is your name, my child?"

"My name is Alex, mam."

Toriel chuckled at the formality. "Please, call me Toriel, Alex." She smiled at them. Alex couldn't help it and ran up to her and hugged her. They tried to wrap their arms around her as best as they could, but she was too large. She smiled and bent down to return the hug.

Alex whispered, "Thank you."

"No problem, my child. Now, why don't I lead you back to my home. It's at the far end of the Ruins, but it shouldn't be a problem. After the last child that came through, all the monsters in the ruins seemed to have been pacified." She smiled and stood back up. Toriel grabbed Alex's hand gently and began to lead them to the next room.

Alex was beginning to grow really attached to Toriel now. She was like the mom they never had and always wanted. They followed Toriel closely, holding her hand willingly and with a smile.

After about an hour of walking through the ruins, filled with bonding time with Toriel, they finally arrived at Toriel's house. Toriel held the door open for Alex as he walked in. They whole house was beautiful and bright, unlike the last time they passed through.

They were led into the living room with a lit fireplace. There was an amazing smell in the air, which Alex noticed immediately. They looked to Toriel who was still smiling,

"That is the smell of one of my famous cinnamon-butterscotch pies. I just finished making it before I decided to see if anyone fell down. Would you like a slice?"

Alex's mouth was already watering in anticipation. It smelled amazing! They nodded enthusiastically, "Yes please mom!" They noticed their slip of the tongue, and so did Toriel. She looked at Alex with wide eyes for a moment before blushing, "W-would you like to call me mom? If it makes you happy…"

Alex was now blushing. It was a slip up from the bonding time with her. They truly felt as if she was their own mother… or at least how they thought a mother should be. Alex never really had an experience with having a mom before, so their knowledge was based off of the TV shows they've seen. Alex nodded slowly.

Toriel smiled in response and went into the kitchen to get two slices of pie for the two of them. While waiting, they took a seat at the table and sat there patiently until she came back with two plates. She placed one in front of Alex and the other next to them, where she sat.

"T-thanks mama…" Alex smiled with a slight blush.

"You are welcome, my child."

They both began to eat their slice, but Alex ate much quicker than Toriel did due to their hunger and love of the pie. "This is amazing mama!" Toriel beamed with pride and rubbed Alex on the head. "Thank you."

After they finished their slices, Toriel sat down on her chair by the fireplace before Alex climbed up onto her lap. Alex was enjoying every minute with Toriel. She proceeded to read from her book, '72 Uses for Snails', until Alex fell asleep. Toriel, seeing the sleeping figure of Alex on her lap, smiled warmly before picking them up and putting them in Asriel's old bedroom. They laid there sleeping as she walked downstairs to see if her punny buddy was on the other side of the door.

* * *

Frisk finally arrived at the door to the Ruins. They looked up at the massive door for a moment before realizing they wouldn't be able to open the door from the outside. How were they going to get in? _Any ideas, Chara?_

 **Why are you asking me?**

 _'Cause you usually come up with pretty good ideas._

 **Hmmm… Didn't Sans tell us a long time ago that he'd do knock-knock jokes through the door with m-Toriel?**

 _Oh yeah. So you're saying I should try to do a knock-knock joke to try to get her attention?_

 **Sure. If see answers, maybe you could get her to open the door.**

 _Ok, thanks Chara. You're the best!_

 **You're welcome… And I know.**

Frisk stood silently for a moment to try to come up with a good knock-knock joke. After all, they didn't want to get her attention and fail at a joke in front of her. It had to be good. After a moment, they came up with one and knocked on the door twice.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

There was only a moment of silence before Frisk heard a response. It was definitely Toriel. Perfect!

"Who's there?"

"The Doris."

"The Doris who?"

"The doris shut, so I knocked."

Toriel laughed from behind the door. After a moment, she knocked twice on the door in response.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

"Who's there?" Frisk was smiling while Chara was groaning. Chara never was a fan of puns.

"Tank."

"Tank who?"

"You're welcome!"

Frisk began to laugh aloud with Chara only groaning even louder in their head. Frisk ignored them and decided to do one more joke, so they knocked on the door.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

"Who's there?"

"Figs."

"Figs who?"

"Figs the doorbell, it's broken."

Toriel and Frisk both laughed together from their jokes as Chara continued their unhappy groan. _You know they're funny._ **No, Frisk. They're punny, which is dumb.** _You're dumb._ **Real mature Frisk.** And now Chara was laughing too.

Frisk decided to stop with the jokes for now and try to speak to Toriel. "M-mom?" Toriel's laughter stopped for a moment before replying. "Frisk? Is that you?"

Frisk nodded, but then realized she couldn't see through the door. "Y-yes. I know you said to not return, but I wanted to see you again…"

Toriel remained quiet for a moment, making Frisk feel kinda bad. Chara was trying to pat them on the back to comfort them, which only occurred in Frisk's mind. Even though it was only in their mind, Frisk appreciated the comfort from Chara.

Then, the door opened and Frisk saw Toriel standing tall. Frisk jumped up and wrapped around her in a hug. She smiled warmly and hugged them back. "I love you, mom!" She laughed at the remark but still held Frisk closely. She walked backwards and closed the door behind her as she held Frisk in her arms. After another moment, she put Frisk down.

"Why did you come back here, my child?"

"Mom, I care about you." She smiled at Frisk, but looked into their eyes. Her mother-senses were tingling, telling her that it wasn't the only reason. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Frisk again, prompting them to continue talking.

"…and I was worried about anyone else falling into the Underground." Toriel softened her expression.

"Actually, a few hours ago, another human fell down here. They are currently resting in a bedroom." Frisk smiled, knowing Alex was safe. Together, Frisk and Toriel walked back up to her house and she gave Frisk a slice of pie.

While enjoying Toriel's cooking, Frisk proceeded to tell her the story of what had happened so far, Obviously, they left out anything after their save, which included Asgore, Gaster, and Alex. She looked relieved to hear that Frisk was ok and about all of the friends they made along the way. As they continued to talk, Alex came out of the room and saw Frisk sitting there,

Alex took off at full speed and jumped onto Frisk, pushing them out of their seat and onto the floor, before wrapping Frisk up in a hug. They both laughed and giggled as Toriel watched the display in amusement. "I assume you two know each other?"

They both stood up and nodded. "Are you two siblings?" They both shook their heads and Toriel laughed again. "Ah, I see. Just good friends." They both, once more, nodded.

"Frisk, why don't you go to the bedroom. You left a few things there from when you left. Frisk nodded and walked over to the kid bedroom. Both Toriel and Alex watched Frisk walk off before Toriel turned to face Alex. Alex could see that Toriel had a mischievous smile on her face as they turned to face her. Uh oh.

Alex could feel the sweat starting to form. Toriel spoke, still smiling, "Alex…"

"No…"

"You like them, don't you?"

Alex just blushed, refusing to make eye contact with their new mother. "I-is it THAT obvious?"

Toriel softened her expression slightly, "No… but a mother can see these things in her children." She giggled to herself. "Don't worry, I won't say anything." Alex let out a sigh of relief. "You should tell them, though." Alex froze back up again.

On cue, Frisk came back out of the bedroom holding their friendship bracelet that they had left there. Frisk sat down at the table and Toriel tried to put her plan into motion. She stood up and looked up at the clock. "Oh dear, it's time for me to pick up some groceries. I'll be back in a little bit. You two stay here, please."

And with that, Toriel speed walked out the door, leaving Frisk and Alex alone at the table. Alex did their best to remain calm, at least visibly. They both sat there in awkward silence for a moment before Frisk began.

"I'm glad you're here Alex." Frisk smiled. Alex, on the other hand, felt their heart nearly stop. They were to much of a coward to admit their feelings.

"Y-yeah. Me too… so… what happens next?"

"Well, we need to try to get Toriel to leave the Ruins with us, then we'll go see Sans and try to restore Gaster again."

"Yeah, that s-sounds like a plan."

"… Hey Alex…"

"Y-yeah?"

"…I need to tell you something, so… don't freak out, ok?"

Alex could feel their heart beating faster and faster. Were they going to say what they thought they'd say? "U-um. O-ok. W-what is it…?"

Frisk closed their eyes for a moment to concentrate. They breathed deeply in and out a few times before drawing in a single breath. Then, they opened their eyes. This time, they were a bright red color, as opposed to their natural brown. A weak smile crossed their lips as they spoke with a different yet familiar voice.

 **"G-Greetings. I'm Chara."**

Alex froze in place. Their heart stopped. This was DEFINITLY not what they expected, which wasn't a bad thing. Alex didn't think they were ready to talk about their feelings right now. Back to the task at hand, they saw that Frisk was no longer presently in front of them, but was Chara.

Last time they had seen Chara was when Gaster removed them from existence while you were comforting them. Alex, on instinct leapt out of their seat and hugged Chara/Frisk. Chara's eyes were wide in shock. After all, they had tried to kill Alex last time…

 **"Alex… I, I don't know what to say…"** Chara then put their arms around Alex too. They both smiled. "I'm glad you're ok Chara. What happened to you?"

Chara released Alex from the hug and sadness filled their eyes. **"I… I killed myself…"** Alex was in shock. Chara killed themselves? How? Why? Worry now coated Alex's face.

 **"A long time ago, I fell down into the Underground and met Toriel, Asgore, and their son Asriel. We became siblings and I lived down here with them for a while…"** Chara looked down in shame, **"Then I made some stupid mistakes, killed myself, and got Asriel killed..."** Chara looked back up towards Alex.

 **"Then, when Frisk fell, I met them and we kinda share a soul together. I can only control Frisk when they let me… and we've grown pretty close."** Chara smiled at Alex now, **"And they really care about you, Alex."** Alex tried to hide a blush.

"Wait, can Frisk hear all of this too?" Alex asked, trying to avoid and further blushing.

 **"Haha, yes. They can hear you, they just wanted to fill you in on my existence within their head."**

"This is so weird…"

 **"Tell me about it…"**

"So, um, who else knows about you

 **"Other than Gaster? No one else, and I think it should stay like that. Especially mom an-, Toriel and Asgore."**

"But, aren't they your family? Shouldn't you let them know?"

Chara frowned, **"I'll let them know when I'm ready to, ok? So please, don't tell anyone."**

"Oh... ok, I promise!" Chara and Alex both smiled. **"Thank you. Here, I'll bring Frisk back now. See you later Alex."** Chara closed their eyes for a moment before they reopened. They irises returned to their original brown color.

Frisk and Alex continued to inform each other on what has happened with them. Alex told Frisk about the six months on the surface and Frisk described their journey through the Underground. After another few minutes, Toriel returned with some groceries. She smiled at the two of them as she walked by into the kitchen to put the newly bought items away. The two children began to whisper to each other.

"Frisk, after we bring back Gaster… what next?"

Frisk thought for a moment, not answering the question since they didn't have an answer. Alex continued, "I think that maybe we should stay here, in the Underground, I mean." Frisk's eyes grew huge with concern.

"I- I mean, if we can't destroy the barrier and free them all, why should we leave them? All we have to go back to is that crappy orphanage!" Frisk slowly nodded.

"B-but I really want to try to destroy the barrier and free everyone!" Frisk replied. They seemed sad.

"I know, but if we can't we shouldn't abandon them. I love all of these monsters. That doesn't mean we won't try to help them though!" Frisk nodded again and smiled this time. They agreed one hundred percent. After another minute, Toriel came back in and sat at the table.

"U-um, mama?"

"Yes Alex?"

"Frisk and I need to get going soon…"

Toriel didn't reply. She sat in silence. Frisk spoke, "W-we want to get Asgore to reverse his decision to kill humans."

"That sounds very noble, my child. However, Asgore is far too dangerous to approach like how you are planning."

"Mama, w-will you come with us and help us?" She sat there quietly for a minute thinking.

"Yeah mom, please? You said he's too dangerous, but you help us!"

She finally gave into the pressure and sighed. She smiled at the two children. "Very well, I will help you both with your mission." They both cheered and hugged Toriel tightly, causing her to laugh and hug them back. "Just… give me some time to pack some things, ok?" They nodded as she left to her bedroom. Things were going quite well now!

After waiting a few moments, Toriel came back out with a bag with several items in it. They all then proceeded to walk down the stairs and back towards Snowdin Forest. They walked over another patch of green grass as they approached the door and left into the cold. Next stop, Snowdin.

* * *

Back in the grassy patch they had walked over, Flowey popped back out and looked towards the open door of the Ruins. He had a scowl on his face.

"Those idiots are ruining everything. Everything is wrong. Everything is new. Everything is unfamiliar. Hopefully this hasn't changed too much!" Flowey smirked to himself. If everything was still close enough on track, the souls would soon be his again. And this time, they wouldn't be rebelling against him!

He was the Prince of this world. He was the master of this timeline. And no stupid humans or monsters were going to keep him from his destiny.

With that, he dove under the earth.

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes:_**

 ** _Alright, there's the next part. Hope you enjoyed it. The shifts and changes in the timeline may have some unintended consequences, both good and bad. What kinds of consequences? Stay tuned to find out._**

 ** _P.S. It seems that I really like leaving a little cliffhanger at the end of every chapter. Oh well._**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	20. Memories

The cold was inconvenient, to say the least. However, with their sweaters and Toriel's fur, they made it through Snowdin Forest with relatively little issue. Finally, after walking for what felt like forever, they three of them arrived in Snowdin Town.

Knowing the way through town, Frisk and Alex led Toriel to the skeleton brothers' house on the far side of town. They could hear the TV and Papyrus' loud voice through the door. Frisk was about to knock on the door, but Alex stopped them for a moment.

They took a step back and Alex asked, "Mama, why don't you use a knock-knock joke? I'd like to hear one of yours!? Alex smiled.

Toriel responded with a warm smile and a nod before approaching the door. Then, she did the signature two knocks on the door. Papyrus' voice could be heard for a split second before being cut off. "COME I-" Before Papyrus could finish, he was silenced as they heard another voice respond to the knocking.

 _"who's there?"_

Toriel, with her smile growing, replied, "Scold."

 _"scold who?"_

"Scold outside, let us in."

On the other side of the door, a combination of laughing and groaning could be heard. Papyrus' voice was the clearest, "WHY SANS? WHO'D YOU CORRUPT THIS TIME?" Still laughing, Sans opened the door to see three people in front of him, and two of them were humans.

Another feeling of déjà vu washed over him, clearly indicating that he's met them before. Looking into Alex's eyes, he could see the unease. 'yup, definitely met before.' He thought to himself. He hid his shock with ease and began to talk.

 _'heya Frisk. who're they? more friends?"_

Frisk nodded as Toriel's eyes widened in realization. "That voice…" She started, "I believe we know each other?" Sans' grin widened as he recognized her voice too.

 _"oh yeah, you're my punny buddy from behind the door. name's sans, nice to finally meet you."_ Sans held out their left hand towards Toriel, who smiled and firmly grasped it, preparing to shake his hand until she felt something odd. His hand was softer than a skeleton's hand should be, and a noise emanated from his hand.

Toriel looked down and saw the whoopee cushion in the skeleton's hand. She immediately burst into laughter while further groans erupted from the other skeleton. "Nice to meet you Sans, I'm Toriel… Wait a moment!"

She took a step forward and looked at the groaning Papyrus on the couch sitting besides Undyne. "This must be your brother, Papyrus." Sans nodded and Papyrus blushed. "WOWIE, YOU ALREADY KNOW ME? MY REPUTATION REALLY PROCEEDS ME! NYEHEHEHEHEH!"

"Hey Papyrus, what does a skeleton tile his roof with?"

"HMMM. SNOW-PROOF ROOF TILES, RIGHT? THAT'S WHAT I USE ANYWAYS!" Papyrus smiled… but not for long.

"No, silly. A skeleton tiles his roof with… Shin-gles."

 _"heh"_ Sans chuckled as the smile faded from Papyrus' face in a nanosecond. His eye sockets opened wide as his jaw dropped. "NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOO! WHAT HAS SANS DONE TO YOU?!" Undyne simply rolled her eye.

Everyone laughed at Papyrus' perfect reaction. After the laughter died down, they all came inside and closed the door. Frisk introduced Alex to them all, and then Toriel began to talk about her time in the Ruins and revealed that she was royalty. Everyone was caught off guard except Frisk and Alex. Sans looked surprised, but he was likely faking. He… seemed to know more than he was letting on.

"YOUR HIGHNESS, I HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE OUR QUEEN!"

"Please, call me Toriel. I am no longer your queen, and there's no need to be formal around me." She smiled. Sans took the opportunity to stand up for a moment.

 _"hey tori, i know i've only 'bone' ya for a bit, but you mind if i borrow the two kiddos for a bit?"_

"Alright bonehead, just don't take too long."

 _"heh"_

"STTTTOOOPPPP IIITTTTT! GGGGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

Sans grabbed Alex and Frisk and led them outside. He closed the door and grabbed a hold of both of them before taking a 'shortcut' into his lab.

 _"alright, you two. start explaining."_

Both of them looked down.

 _"i saw the readings. six months were just…"_ Sans somehow snapped his fingers, _"gone. so… i'll ask again: start explaining."_

Alex spoke a single word, "…Gaster…"

Sans' pupils disappeared and left his large eye sockets pure black. His grin lowered as he thought. Did Gaster really have something to do with this? _"what about him?"_

"He did some things that he regrets, and Frisk CONTINUED to undo it."

Sans set his serious gaze upon Frisk, _"that's impossible. he can't interact with the timeline anymore… and how do you two know about him?"_

Frisk cleared their throat, "I- I fought Asgore… and he died." Sans' gaze became less angry and more sympathetic, seeing the sadness in Frisk's eyes. "… After fighting Flowey too, Gaster captured me and the other six souls."

He did WHAT?! Wait a moment, the power of the barrier… theoretically, he might have had the ability to do something with that kind of energy all around them. So, Gaster took Frisk… _"then what?"_

Alex began next, "After six months, I fell Underground looking for Frisk. I… I got you to help and we saved Frisk before they rewound time to just several hours ago." Sans nodded. Now everything was starting to make a bit more sense.

Sans' pupils returned to their full size before he sighed and looked down. _"so, that's it, huh? he's still in the void with no way out…"_ Sans looked up and saw Alex standing there, shaking their head.

"No, Sans. We saved Frisk using your machine…" Alex pointed towards the ruined machine under the sheet, "… and it brought Gaster back too."

Sans focused on Alex and looked them in the eyes. He laughed quietly for a moment before speaking again, _"alright, so after everything he must have done to you all, you want to bring him back?"_

Sans and Frisk nodded in certainty. Sans smile returned to its original size now. _"so, i know what i need for the machine, but how did we power it last time?"_

Frisk put and hand on Alex's shoulder as they focused on their soul. They closed their eyes and focused the energy in their soul to build for a moment. Then, they summoned forth their silver soul of Purity. Sans' eyes widened in surprise.

 _"…welp… that makes 'san'se."_ Sans smiled, _"perfect. now, why don't you all go upstairs back to tori while i collect what i need for the machine. i'll let ya know when we're ready."_ Sans winked at the pair of human children as they nodded. He grabbed both of their hands and used another 'shortcut', bringing them back to the front door.

Sans smiled as he walked away from them and disappeared while Frisk opened the door to let them and Alex in. Toriel smiled at them, but tilted her head when she noticed Sans was no longer with them.

"My children, where is Sans?"

Frisk responded, "He needed to go collect a few things. He'll be back later."

She sighed in relief, "Alright. Now, Alex, why don't you tell us about yourself and Frisk?"

"Yeah punk! I wanna know all about you two. From what the Queen has said, you two are besties… just like me and Frisk!" Undyne showed off her large toothy grin.

"YEAH! I WANT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT YOU!" Papyrus smiled towards them too.

Alex sighed and walked over towards the couch and sat on another chair. It was time for a long story. Some of it was uncomfortable to share, but Alex was willing to do so. "Frisk, you'll help explain some of it too, right?" Frisk nodded and smiled as Alex prepared to tell the tale.

* * *

 **{Some Years Ago: Surface}**

Alex sat in their bed quietly. The first rays of sunshine peered out through the curtains over the windows as Alex sat there, reading a book. This place… no, this prison, is the closest thing to home Alex had ever had.

He couldn't remember their parents, really, but he did know one truth about them: they never wanted Alex. From the stories he's been told, late one evening, a baby was abandoned. No one had ever been able to find their parents, but Alex still had some sort of hope that they'd one-day return. Unfortunately, thinking so was naïve… at least, that's what Ms. Pore said.

There, Alex sat and used the first rays of sunshine to read his book in peace before the rest of the day started. Alex tried to befriend the other children at the orphanage, but most of them either didn't like him or were adopted and left soon thereafter.

After a while, Alex finally got up and went about his day. They heard rumors that another kid arrived, but he never saw them. After all, Alex usually kept to himself. After eating lunch, Alex walked towards his normal reading spot behind a collection of trees nearby. Other than in the morning in bed, this was the only place Alex could read in silence with getting yelled at or teased.

They didn't know why so many people didn't care about him. He didn't know why he was being teased for wanting to be alone or spending their time reading. It wasn't weird, right?

Alex arrived at his usual hiding spot when they noticed it was occupied by someone… someone new. They were young, about Alex's age. This must have been the new kid. They were wearing a blue and purple striped sweater and a pair of jeans. Their shoulder-length brown hair hid their eyes, but Alex could hear her sobbing.

The kid was hugging her knees to her chest and her face was buried into her legs. She was sobbing out here, all alone. Alex walked over towards the new girl and spoke up, "E-excuse me…"

Her crying slowed down to a stop and she looked up towards the new voice. She had deep brown irises, but her eyes were red and watery from the crying. He could tell they were filled with pain and sorrow. "U-um… are y-you ok?"

She sniffled and shook her head slowly before tears began to roll down her face once more. Alex instinctively walked right up besides her and put their arm around her gently. "It's ok…" Alex sat there beside her, completely forgetting about there book, and stayed beside the new kid until she was ready to talk.

After a little while, she stopped crying and looked back up at Alex. "W-what's wrong?"

She sat quietly for a while before talking, "M-my family… my parents… they… they…"

Alex quickly tried to comfort her before she began to cry again. "H-hey, I'm Alex. What's your name?" Alex tried their best to smile at her, which wasn't hard at all or forced. She used one of her sleeves to dry up some of the new tears before she replied.

"M-my name is Frisk…"

"Frisk? That's a nice name."

She smiled at the genuine complement.

"Why are you out here all alone?"

"I- ummm…" She hesitated for a moment, "I'm all alone now…" She looked towards the ground, "… My parents died and they were my only family…" Alex could see the tears reforming in her eyes, so he did the only thing that he could do. He reached out and hugged Frisk, comforting her as best as he could.

She continued to cry and let the tears flow forth, and Alex simply sat there, hugging her. "N-no one c-cares about me an-anymore…"

"I-It's ok…" Alex spoke to her reassuringly before pausing for a moment. Then, Alex asked, "H-hey Frisk… wanna be friends?"

She slowed her sobbing and looked up into his eyes. Her eyes were large with surprise. "Y-you want to be f-friends… with me?"

Alex slowly nodded and smiled toward her. "Y-yeah… if that's ok with you…"

Frisk quickly returned the hug she was previously given and cried a bit more. This time, some of the tears were tears of joy. She buried her head into Alex's sweater while nodded, which was kind of comforting and cute. Alex couldn't help but let their smile grow.

After Frisk finally calmed down, she looked down and saw the book on the ground beside Alex. "U-um, Alex?"

"Y-yeah?"

"What's that?" Frisk pointed towards the book laying face-down in the dirt beside him.

"O-oh… well, not too many people care about me, and I really like to read, so I come out here by myself to read my books." Alex reached over and picked it up, holding it only for a moment before handing it to Frisk.

"I-I'm not that good of a reader…" Frisk looked a little sad when she said that. Alex smiled back to her and reached an arm around her back and patted it gently.

"W-would you like me to read it to you?"

Frisk beamed with joy. "R-really? You'd do that?" Alex laughed and she joined in too. They were both smiling widely.

"Of course!"

"Thanks… what's it about?"

"Oh, I haven't actually started this book yet, so I'm not sure… I think it's about time travel."

Frisk tilted their head slightly in confusion. Her face practically said 'I-have-no-idea-what-that-is'. Alex smiled and continued, "Imagine if you made a mistake, but you could go back and stop yourself from making it."

"Whoa…"

"Yeah, that's like what time travel is. You can go to different times. Like, if you were hungry but it was 3:00, you could travel back to noon to eat lunch again!" Alex smiled and laughed, prompting Frisk to do the same. They'd only known each other for a short while, but were getting alone perfectly.

"That's so cool. I wanna hear more!" Frisk was about ready to jump up in joy and anticipation. She was ready to hear more of this story. It sounded so cool.

"Hahaha, alright then." Alex scooted over towards her a bit and opened the book to page one. Frisk stared at the page to try to follow along with what Alex read. That way, maybe she could get as good as him at reading. Then, he began to read the first page.

* * *

 **{Present Day: Snowdin}**

...

Everyone was quiet and nobody spoke a word while Alex told the story of them meeting Frisk. Frisk and Alex both blushed at several different moments during the story. When he finished, Alex took a deep breath, waiting for someone else to say something. It was Papyrus.

"THAT'S SO ADORABLE! *Sniffle*" Papyrus had what looked like the formation of tears in his eyes.

"Hell yeah, it was. It was so Fu-" Undyne stopped midsentence due to Toriel's glare towards her. If her glares could kill, Undyne would have been nonexistent by now. "...freaking cute!" She smiled and rubbed her neck as Toriel eased up on the glare and sighed.

"My child… you were… abandoned?" Toriel looked like she was ready to cry too. Who would abandon someone like Alex? He was so sweet and kind. There's no logical explanation.

Alex nodded, "Yeah… I never got to meet my parents." Alex looked solemn before a smile formed and replaced their frown, "… But you, Toriel, are better than any mom I could've had!" Toriel blushed from Alex's answer. She looked over towards Frisk, who was nodding in agreement.

"Hey punks! No crying!" Undyne commanded.

"What about you, Frisk? If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your parents?" Toriel quietly asked.

"No, I don't mind sharing. My parents… when I was seven, they went out for a… date, maybe? Anyway, they got into a car accident and they both died. I had no other family, so I went to the orphanage…" Frisk smiled, "…and met Alex!"

 **Wow, you two must be really close… You were sitting behind a tree when you met, right Frisk?**

 _Yeah…_

 **…were you… K-I-S-S-I-N-G?** Frisk could almost see Chara's evil smile in their mind.

 _NNNoooooOOOOOOoo… Be quiet Chara!_

 **Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!** On the outside, Frisk was blushing heavily.

"You two are ADORABLE! FUHUHUHUHUHUH!" If only she knew the half of it.

"I AGREE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS EVEN THINKS THAT YOU TWO ARE FAR MORE THAN BEST FRIENDS!"

Both Alex and Frisk blushed wildly as this remark. Papyrus likely didn't realize what he was implying. Toriel chuckled at the display while Undyne was simply rolling on the ground and laughing. Eventually, they all calmed down.

Out of nowhere, Sans starts walking down the stairs and back into the living room. Everyone looked at him in confusion. How on earth did he get inside without anyone noticing… or past them and upstairs?

 **Stupid 'shortcuts'.** Frisk nodded internally.

 _"heya guys. what's all the ruckus about?"_

"SANS? HOW'D YOU GET HERE? OR UP THERE?" Papyrus began to scratch the top of his skull.

"Yeah! You didn't use the front door! What the heck, man?" Undyne pointed towards the ONLY entrance into the house.

 _"hey, don't get mad at me, i'm too aDOORable."_

"GRRRR, KNOCK IT OFF SANS!"

Sans' grin widened as he formed guns with his hands and pointed them towards Papyrus. Papyrus then realized his mistake. He gasped overdramatically.

"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOO! THIS CAN'T POSSIBLE GET ANY WORSE."

Of course, right on cue, the annoying dog ran by with Papyrus' special attack and was heading towards the Kitchen where he kept his other bones. His eye's widened further.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO! I TAKE IT BACK! STOP RIGHT THERE, FIEND!"

Papyrus jumped up off of the couch and ran after the dog. Everyone chuckled and laughed.

 _"hey tori, mind if i take them for another MOMent."_

Toriel laughed, "Sure thing, but you may want to bone on up on your pun skills."

Sans snickered before he responded, _"you're the bmomb, tori!"_ He then pointed his gun-hands towards her, causing both of them to laugh while Undyne rolled her eyes. In the far reaches of the kitchen, everyone could hear Papyrus screaming. Whether it was because of the dog of the puns, no one knew. Although, it was likely a combination of the two.

* * *

Sans led Alex and Frisk back outside and around the house towards his lab. He didn't use a shortcut so he could save his energy for the machine. Once inside, he led them down the stairs and into the large room that was his lab.

On the far side, the machine was uncovered and looked identical to how it was last time it was built. This was Frisk's first time seeing the machine in all of its glory. Her eyes were wide.

Sans, still smiling, brought the two of them up to the machine. He looked into Alex's eyes and spoke, _"alright kiddo, i'm sure you know the drill. you ready?"_

Both Alex and Frisk looked at each other and nodded confidently. Sans nodded in response and directed Alex to summon forth their soul. The bright and captivating silver soul floating mere inches from Alex's real, beating heart. Alex turned back around towards Frisk one more time before they all began. Alex was greeted with a perfectly comical neutral expression from Frisk with a thumbs-up. Alex internally chuckled.

 **[PURIFY]**

Alex knew what he had to do and focused on the energy flowing through their body. Suddenly, a white beam of energy came out of their soul and entered the legendary artifact in front of them. Once again, the artifact began to pulsate and glow, causing the whole machine to shudder and vibrate.

Just as before, Sans used his blue soul magic to hold the machine steady and together while it continued to work. Frisk stood back and watched the machine in wonder. So, this was how she was brought back. This machine was really something else.

 **Wow, this is what brought you back?**

 _Mhm._

 **It looks pretty freaking unstable… and Alex is more powerful than I thought… Now I see why you like them s- mmmhhhh!** Somehow, Frisk found a way to silence Chara in her mind as she held back her blush. She could practically feel the glares Chara was giving her internally.

She retuned her attention to the machine just in time for everyone's vision to be filled with a bright white light. Some sort of loud sound, similar to a sonic boom, echoed throughout the lab and likely filled the house above them.

Everyone in the lab knew they didn't have long before everyone started to come. Once the light died down, everyone saw the rip in reality within the Soul Canister attached to the machine. Small specks of white and purple dust began to blow and flow out of the hole and form slowly into the shape of a heart.

After a few moments, within the canister was an upside down monster soul, the only difference was it had a light purple hue to it, for some odd reason. Everyone's eye's widened upon seeing the soul, and the machine began to slow down now. Then, another loud sound occurred as the hole in the fabric of space and time closed itself.

Alex stopped the beam of PURE energy and watched as the soul canister opened and the soul floated out of it. It was now hovering only about a foot from Alex's still present soul. Alex felt almost a whisper in the back of their mind. **_"P-…PUR…IF…FY…"_**

Alex did was was suggested and allowed another beam of PURE energy to flow into the soul. The energy was absorbed and caused the soul to glow brightly as it began to re-create Gaster's body. Within seconds, Gaster's original body was created from the PURE magic.

Gaster opened his eyes suddenly and looked around for a split second before looking down and seeing their own body. It wasn't some sort of self-created illusion like in the void. No, this was Gaster's very real physical body. He… he was no longer erased. He was back!

As Gaster began to smile for a second, he felt a sudden pain that caused him to fall to his knees. Sans stood in shock, unable to move, until he saw Gaster fall.

He and the two humans rushed to his side as his soul reemerged from his body. It shuddered and vibrated rapidly until a shockwave erupted from it that sailed through the air, hitting everyone in the room before dissipating before it could leave the room.

The moment everyone was hit by the shockwave they fell backwards onto their butts. Suddenly, Sans' white pupils disappeared from his eye sockets as the shockwave began to truly reveal its purpose. San saw… everything.

Before Sans, he saw himself calling and leaving a message on Frisk's phone. Then, images of him meeting Toriel after Asgore died, Alex falling Underground, fighting Chara and her remorse for attacking, rebuilding the machine last time, fighting Alex, the images of the Genocide reality, and the Gaster fight.

Everything returned to him, even his memories of Gaster before he fell into the Core were fully restored. Now, Sans was conflicted. Before him, stood both his loving father and the insane psycho from before the CONTINUE. He stood there, with pupils still gone, staring at Gaster.

Gaster stood up and looked at Sans. He knew that face well; after all, he was his father. He put and hand softly on Sans' shoulder and tried to smile calmly.

 ** _"S-SANS… I, UHHHH, I'M SORRY… FOR EVERYTHING."_** Sans didn't respond.

 ** _"I'M SORRY FOR LEAVING YOU THOSE MANY YEARS AGO AND BEING ERASED. I'M SORRY FOR HURTING YOUR FRIENDS. AND MOST OF ALL, I'M SORRY FOR HURTING YOU AND PAPYRUS…"_**

Sans' now present frown softened and his pupils returned. Rather than being angry, Sans was sad. He didn't look Gaster in the eyes. _"heh, i should be apologizing too. you saw everything from the void, right? so you saw that i wasn't the best big bro to paps…"_

Gaster grabbed Sans with both arms and wrapped him into a hug. **_"WHY DON'T WE GO AND FIX OUR MISTAKES TOGETHER. I'M NOT ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS… I DON'T DESERVE IT… ALL I'M ASKING FOR IS ANOTHER CHANCE TO BE YOUR FATHER…"_**

 _"heh heh…"_ Sans laughed softly before looking into Gaster's eyes. _"i guess that's not a 'dad' place to start…"_

Gaster sighed and rolled his eyes, **_"YOU'RE DEFINITLY YOUR MOTHER'S CHILD!"_** Then Gaster looked over and saw Frisk and Alex standing there, watching them.

He beckoned them over, and they approached him slowly. **_"FRISK. ALEX. I'M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING I DID TO YOU TWO ESPECCIALLY. I CAN'T TAKE ANY OF IT BACK, BUT CAN WE TRY TO START OVER?"_** Frisk almost hesitated, but both Frisk and Alex nodded and joined in the hug with Gaster.

"Hey Gaster, does that mean everyone else remembers you now?" Asked Frisk.

 ** _"NO, JUST SANS NOW. HOWEVER, I CAN REMIND THEM USING MY SOUL."_**

"Well, what was that weird wave of energy that came from your soul?"

 ** _"THAT SUDDEN WAVE OF ENERGY WAS CREATED BECAUSE OF ALL THE ENERGY YOU PUMPED INTO ME, ALEX. MY SOUL COULDN'T HANDLE IT ALL AT ONCE AND IT RELEASED IT, FORCING SANS TO REMEMBER IMMEDIATELY."_**

Gaster looked down at Sans and released him and the other two from the hug. **_"ALTHOUGH I WOULD HAVE MADE HIM REMEMBER FIRST… I LOVE YOU SANS…"_**

Sans smiled, _"heh, i love ya too dad."_

"I guess you could say that you're 'dad' to the bone." Alex smiled and looked at Sans. Sans' smiled widened and high-fived Alex while Frisk giggled and Gaster simply smiled and rolled his eyes.

 _"now, why don't we re-introduce you to everyone else?"_

 ** _"WAY AHEAD OF YOU SANS. BUT ALLOW ME, I KNOW A SHORTCUT."_**

Sans grinned as Alex and Frisk grabbed ahold of Gaster as they all took another 'shortcut' to directly outside of the house's front door. Gaster was about to knock on the door before Alex ran up and knocked twice, slowly. Gaster looked confused for a split second before he realized what was going on. He smiled as his suspicions were confirmed.

"Who's there?"

"Canoe Knot."

"Canoe Knot who?"

"Canoe Knot tell who it is?"

They all heard a beautiful orchestra of groaning and laughter on the other side of the door before it was opened. Alex was proud of his joke as Sans and Frisk laughed at it too behind him. Gaster simply smiled with them.

It has been so long since he's had friendly company again. It was… good. Now, it was perfect. He just hoped everyone else would be as forgiving of him once he restored their memories. As the door slipped open, Gaster snapped out of it as he saw the Queen opening the door to his sons' house. 'No time like the present, I guess', Gaster thought.

"Who's this?" Toriel asked, her head tilted slightly in confusion.

Gaster held out a hand, and Toriel grabbed it firmly yet softly as they shook hands. He bowed slightly, out of habit, and spoke, **_"HELLO, YOUR HIGHNESS. MY NAME IS Dr. W. D. GASTER."_**

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes:_**

 ** _Alright you guys. Don't get triggered, here. I gave them genders, and I know many, MANY stories and interpretations never do so, but I felt like not having them remain neutral. If that angers you, I'm sorry about that, but it's just a story._**

 ** _Also, sorry about the sadness and feels, but backstories are a thing and I felt it was time to reveal the protagonists' past, at least a little bit._**

 ** _Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying it. There may or may not be a delay for the next chapter due to stuff I'm doing this weekend… who knows. Stay Determined, or Pure, or whatever trait you feel like…_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	21. Doctor, Doctor, Give me the News

Toriel smiled warmly towards Dr. Gaster, who smiled back too. She left go of his hand and moved out of the doorway to allowed both skeletons and both humans inside. Papyrus and Undyne were staring at Gaster. Something about him seemed familiar to them, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

Gaster stood in the middle of the room with everyone around him. Then, he spoke, **_"I'M ABOUT TO SHOW YOU ALL SOMETHING. PLEASE, REMAIN CALM AND ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN AFTERWARDS."_**

"Umm, ok." Replied Undyne.

"ALRIGHT NEW FRIEND! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO SHOW US? IS IT SPAGETTI?" Papyrus began to cross his fingers, which caused both Sans and Gaster to laugh. Toriel agreed and Sans nodded, looked very serious. Gaster sighed and summoned forth his soul. It began to resonate and pulsate, glowing brightly.

Everyone was captivated by the odd display, when it suddenly sent a wave of energy throughout the room, impacting everyone within it. Frisk, Alex, and Sans were unaffected, but everyone else…

Images began to flash in all of their heads. Toriel saw her rise as the leader in the Underground, meeting Alex, and watching Alex die and being revived. Undyne watched herself spend months with Alphys, meeting Alex and seeing Temmies, dancing around Mettaton, Alex dying, and watching Alex beat Gaster. Papyrus saw his time with Sans and the Queen, meeting Alex outside the Ruins, protecting him from Gaster, getting Alphys to save Alex, and Alex defeating Gaster with Frisk too.

They all sat there for a moment with blank expressions on their faces as all the memories flooded back into them. They all remembered everything that happened in the six months that were undone. Then, their memories of Gaster before the Core incident came.

After a moment of silence, they all snapped back into reality. Gaster's soul was now back inside him as he looked at them all cautiously. Undyne was the first to make a move.

Undyne jumped up from her seat and jumped towards Gaster, propelling them both against a wall. She held him there tightly with her left and and summoned a large energy spear in her right one. She had an angry grimace.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER! YOU'VE DONE SO MUCH TO US, AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO COME IN HERE AND REQUEST THAT WE 'remain calm'?!" She was not having any of it. Sans used some blue magic to cover Papyrus' 'ears', or whatever let him hear, to muffle the curse-word.

"Undyne stop." Frisk tried to reason with her. Papyrus held out his hand towards Undyne and squeezed it shut, causing her soul to become blue. He swiped his hand to the side and forced Undyne off of Gaster and to be stuck to the wall beside him. It took her by such surprise that her spear vaporized.

"PAPYRUS? WHAT THE HELL?" She turned toward Papyrus, but immediately tried to calm herself down out of fear. Behind Papyrus, Toriel had a scowl on her face and a large fireball in each hand. Undyne just realized that her dirty mouth may very well be the cause of her demise.

 _"whoa, whoa, whoa everybody. take a chill pill and let him talk."_

Alex and Frisk ran over to Toriel and hugged her, calming her down quite quickly. She sighed and put away the fireballs before knelling down and hugging them back.

"Alright then, if you guys are done talking, I'd like to know what the he-ck is going on!" Undyne was careful not to curse again, especially in front of the kids and the Queen.

 _"alright pap, put her down. undyne, ya better not try anything… fishy…"_ Sans grinned as Papyrus and Gaster rolled their eyes. Toriel and her two adopted children laughed quietly as Papyrus put her down and they all returned to the center of the room. Alex looked over towards where Gaster impacted the wall and saw a decent-sized crack up the wall now.

Gaster cleared his throat, **_"I'M TRULY SORRY FOR WHAT I DID. I'M SORRY, YOUR HIGHNESS, THAT I HURT YOUR CHILDREN."_** Frisk and Alex knew he was also hinting at Chara, but no one that knew said anything.

 ** _"UNDYNE, I'M SORRY FOR HURTING YOUR FRIENDS AND FOR HURTING YOU…"_** Undyne didn't respond and refused to make eye contact. ** _"AND PAPYRUS, I'M SORRY FOR HURTING YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR BROTHER, AND YOU. I DEEPLY REGRET WHAT I DID TO YOU AND I KNOW YOU'LL NEVER FORGIV-"_**

Before Gaster could finish his thought, Papyrus rushed forward and wrapped Gaster up in a strong embrace, laughing. "NYEH HEH HEH HEH! I MISSED YOU, DAD!"

Toriel, Gaster, and Undyne all widened their eyes in surprise, but each of them had different reasons for it. Gaster had forgotten how sweet and forgiving Papyrus could be. Toriel remembered that he was the first Royal Scientist, but never knew he had children. Undyne, on the other hand, although also surprised by this revelation, was more surprised that Papyrus was willing to forgive him so quickly.

After a moment of hesitation, Gaster wrapped his arms around Papyrus and smiled gently, **_"P-PAPYRUS… I… I MISSED YOU TOO, SON."_** Gaster closed his eye sockets and embraced his youngest son a bit tighter, which made Papyrus all the happier.

After a few more seconds, Papyrus broke the hug and took a step back, beaming with joy. **_"PAPYRUS… HOW COULD YOU FORGIVE ME SO QUICKLY… AFTER ALL I'VE DONE?"_**

Papyrus smiled and explained, "I KNOW THAT EVERYONE CAN BE A GOOD PERSON IF THEY TRY. YES, YOU'VE DONE SOME BAD THINGS, BUT YOU'RE SORRY AND WISH TO MAKE IT UP. YOU WANT TO BE A BETTER PERSON. THAT'S WHY I FORGIVE. ALSO, YOU'RE MY DAD…" Papyrus then struck a proud pose and his scarf began to blow in wind, "AND I LOVE YOU! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"

 **Wait, how's his scarf blowing in the wind when we're all inside?**

 _Hmmm._ Frisk was confused too. She looked to the side and saw that Sans had turned on a moderately sized fan to blow air over his brother's scarf.

 **Hahaha, that's perfect. How does that skeleton do that? He's prepared for, like, anything!**

Frisk shrugged and continued watching the interactions between the monsters with Gaster. Gaster weakly smiled at Papyrus. Toriel, however, still looked at him cautiously while Undyne still scowled at him. It seems trust would take a while to form towards Gaster, not that it isn't understandable.

"Gaster, I do believe we are owed some sort of explanation as to why you did all of those things." Toriel maintained strict eye contact with Gaster as she spoke. Gaster nodded.

 _"welp, you're all gonna want to sit down for this."_ Sans shrugged as he took a seat on the floor. Undyne, Papyrus, and Toriel all sat down on the couch as Alex and Frisk jumped up and sat on Toriel's lap. She smiled and pulled them in closer to her as they returned the smile with a giggle.

After everyone had gotten comfortable, Gaster took a deep breath and began to tell everything from his side of the story. He spoke first of the Void and his many, many years spent there.

 ** _"THE VOID IS NOTHINGNESS, YET IT EXISTED, OUTSIDE THE FABRIC OF OUR REALITY. THERE, I COULD SEE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN OUR TIMELINE, YET WAS UNABLE TO INTERACT. THE ENTIRE TIME, I WAS ABLE TO SEE A FEW OTHER REALITIES AS THEY MOVED CLOSER TO OURS, AND I SAW MANY UNSETTLING THINGS."_**

 ** _"IN ONE WORLD, I WATCHED FRISK… HURT EVERYONE. I WATCHED ALL OF YOU DIE BEFORE THEIR HANDS…"_** Gaster looked over to Frisk and saw the fear in their eyes. Alex reached an arm around her and comforted her. ** _"FRISK… THIS WAS NOT YOU. IT WAS A TWISTED, CORRUPTED VERSION THAT IS NOTHING LIKE YOU."_**

 ** _"IN ANOTHER WORLD, I…"_** Gaster thought for a moment. In order to try to not impact the timeline too much, he should probably not talk about the 'Pasifist' timeline. **_"I SAW MANY DIFFERENT THINGS AND OUTCOMES… AND THE WORST THING I SAW WAS THIS… THIS DEMON. THERE'S NO OTHER WAY TO DESCRIBE THEM…"_** Gaster looked away for a moment before continuing.

 ** _"THIS 'DEMON' WENT TO DIFFERENT WORLDS, DESTORYING THEM AND WIPING THEM FROM EXISTENCE. I WAS… UNSURE ON WHY THEY WERE DOING THIS, SINCE THEY LEFT MANY TIMELINES ALONE AND TARGETED OTHERS…"_**

"So, there's someone out there destroying entire worlds?" Undyne was interested in this information. After all, it reminded her of some of the 'human history' Anime she watches with Alphys.

 ** _"YES, AND I FOUND OUR WORLD BARED MANY SIMILARITIES TO THE ONES DESTORYED. EVERYTHING THAT WAS DESTROYED HAD SOME SORT OF 'ANOMALY', OR, SOMETHING UNIQUE TO THE TIMELINE. UP UNTIL NOW, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE ANOMALY WAS HERE, BUT I ACTED TO TRY TO PRESERVE US."_** Gaster looked over and made eye contact with Frisk.

"T-that was when Asgore died… and Gaster grabbed me…" Alex continued to hug Frisk tightly and Toriel hugged them both as Gaster continued to explain.

 ** _"…YES… I TOOK ASGORE'S SIX SOULS AND FRISK IN ORDER TO FIND A SOLUTION. WITH THIS NEW POWER, I BEGAN WORKING, ALTERING MANY VARIABLES ALONG THE WAY. THIS CAUSED OUR TIMELINE TO BRANCH OUT INTO NUMEROUS DIFFERENT 'POSSIBILITIES'. THIS DIDN'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM, BUT IT BOUGHT US PLENTY OF TIME."_**

"Excuse me, Gaster. I don't suppose you could explain these 'timelines' to us, could you?" Toriel asked politely. Gaster gave a small, friendly smile and nodded.

 ** _"THESE 'TIMELINES' ARE THE EQUVILENT OF ALTERNATE REALTIES. IN THEM, ANY NUMBER OF POSSIBILITES COULD HAVE OCCURRED. I ONE, PERHAPS, I NEVER FELL INTO THE VOID. IN ANOTHER, PERHAPS ASGORE RETREATED INTO THE RUINS AND YOU STAYED TO COLLECT THE SOULS. THERE ARE UNLIMITED POSSIBILITES."_**

"Oh, thanks then, Dr. Gaster."

 ** _"AFTER SIX MONTHS OF SEARCHING, ANOTHER VARIABLE ENTERED THE EQUATION, AND A QUESTION WAS FINALLY ANSWERED: WHO, OR WHAT, WAS OUR ANOMALY?"_** Gaster paused for a moment and looked over to Alex.

"T-that's me, I guess…" Alex weakly smiled as everyone turned their attention towards him. They looked confused.

"Hey, are you calling this punk an anomaly? That's pretty harsh!" Undyne was looking almost mad, but mostly confused and hurt. There was no way her new bestie was a mistake or 'anomaly'.

 ** _"NO, NO, THAT IS SIMPLY THE ACCEPTED TECHNICAL TERM. BUT, WHY IS MENT BY THEM BEING AN ANOMALY IS THIS: UNLIKE EVERYONE ELSE, THEY DON'T EXIST IN ANY OTHER TIMELINES. THEY ARE UNIQUE TO THIS ONE."_**

"I KNEW THEY WERE ONE OF A KIND! NYEH!"

 _"ya got that right, bro."_

 ** _"YES, AND THROUGH THEIR ACTIONS IN THE UNDERGROUND, THEY HAVE FURTHER CLOUDED OUR TIMELINE AND MADE IT… UNCERTAIN."_**

"Doctor, what do you mean by, 'uncertain'." Toriel questioned.

 ** _"USUALLY, THERE ARE A FEW VARIABLE SCENERIOS AND OUTCOMES FOR THE TIMELINES, BUT DUE TO MANY CHANGES, WE SEEM TO HAVE DEVIATED FROM THE NORMAL PATHS, LEAVING, EVEN ME, UNSURE OF OUR FUTURE… BUT I HAVE HIGH HOPES."_**

"Wait, so you know of some of these 'alternate' scenarios? Do you have any advice for us, then?" Frisk asked innocently, hoping for a direction to be sent.

Gaster remembered that Flowey mentioned Alphys. If memory served him, this would include a love letter and a date, all for the purpose of Flowey getting the souls. Perhaps, it was time to change things up a bit. Gaster smiled deviously and looked towards Undyne for a moment, who still looked very untrusting toward Gaster.

 ** _"UNDYNE… I'VE SEEN MANY THINGS FROM THE VOID…"_** Feeling the upcoming words from Gaster, Undyne broke eye contact and a faint blush began to appear on her blue scales under her eyes as a scowl appeared on her lips. Her hands were tightly clenched in both anger and embarrassment. **_"… SO, ABOUT ALPHYS…"_**

She couldn't handle it. She jumped up and shouted "GGNAAHHHHHH!" white raisning her fists, opening them slightly to allow magic to flow in them. Spears formed in both of her hands as she threw three of them rapidly towards Gaster. She blinked and he was gone. Unfortunately, the spears impacted the wall in front of her and left decent holes in it. "What the fu-"

Gaster spoke up from behind her, after obviously using a shortcut, **_"NO CURSING UNDYNE. NOT IN FRONT OF THE KIDS."_** She looked over towards the kids and Toriel, hoping for some backup, but it never came. Instead, she was greeted by one of Toriel's famous scowls. She sighed in defeat.

Gaster took a few steps towards Toriel and the two humans, whispering quietly towards them. He reached into his lab coat pocket and handed Toriel a letter. Undyne's eyes grew to the size of the moon upon seeing the letter in their possession. She lost her composure.

"How the fuck did you get ahold of my l-" She was abruptly cut off by Toriel's glare. In accordance to the timing, Papyrus spoke up, "HEY SANS…" Undyne gulped loudly. "… WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I'VE HEARD HER SAY IT BEFORE BUT WHAT DOES FU-"

Sans immediately interrupted him and answered, _"hey bro, i think ya misheard her. she said 'freak'. like she 'freaked out' or she 'was going to have a freaking bad time'. ya know what i mean?"_

Most of the blue drained from Undyne's face as she made eye contact with Sans' pure black eyes. She knew he was protective of his brother, but this was taking it to the next level. She was terrified. "Y-yeah Papyrus, I said 'freak'. You must have misheard me!"

"OH… OK, THANKS FOR CLEARING THAT UP UNDYNE!" Papyrus smiled innocently as Undyne gave off a sigh of relief. That could have been much worse.

 ** _"ANYWAY, ARE YOU ALL READY FOR THE PLAN?"_** Undyne turned her attention back to the other four and her letter. How the hell did he get her letter? Toriel giggled while Frisk and Alex smiled and nodded before they all stood up off of the couch.

Toriel walked over to Undyne and grabbed her hand, "Alright Undyne, I think it's time we get you ready!"

"R-ready for what?" Uh oh, this couldn't be good.

"For your date with Alphys, of course!"

Undyne's face paled and Toriel grabbed her hand and led her outside, disappeared to prepare Undyne for a date.

 _'so… wanna fill us in on this 'date' thing?"_

"YEAH DAD, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH UNDYNE? DID YOU SET HER UP ON A DATE? I SHOULD GIVE HER MY DATING MANUAL!" Papyrus was smiling even wider as he ran upstairs to grab his 'dating manual'.

 ** _"THE QUEEN WILL BE PREPARING UNDYNE FOR HER DATE WITH ALPHYS… NOW, FRISK AND ALEX, WOULD YOU PLEASE ACCOMPANY ME TO VISIT ALPHYS?"_** Gaster smiled towards the two human children before they returned it and each grabbed a hand in preparation for the 'shortcut'.

 _"what about me and pap? anything you need us to do?"_

 ** _"ACTUALLY, I HAVE A JOB FOR YOU SANS… AND IT IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT."_**

 _"so I assume a nap is outta the question…"_ Sans grinned.

 ** _"*SIGH* NO SANS, I NEED YOU TO REPAIR THE MACHINE DOWNSTAIRS AND PREPARE IT FOR A POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL USE. I'LL EXPLAIN LATER."_**

 _"k"_

 ** _"SANS, I NEED YOU TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY, OK? NO BEING LAZY. YOU CAN SLEEP LATER."_**

 _"k"_

 ** _"… *SIGH* ALRIGHT THEN, LET'S GO, CHILDREN."_** They both smiled as they held on tightly to Gaster as they all disappeared from view. Sans smiled, thoroughly happy by this turn of events. It would take some time to get used to Gaster again, but this was looking pretty great. Perhaps this was marking the end of the resets.

He started to walk off when Papyrus ran back downstairs with his book in hand. His eyes went wide when he noticed how empty the house was. "SANS, YOU DIDN'T SCARE THEM ALL OFF, DID YOU?"

 _" 'course not, bro. i can 'scare'cely believe you'd think that."_

"NNNYYYYYAAAAHHHH, QUIET SANS… NOW, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ABOUT GIVING UNDYNE THE DATING MANUAL?"

 _"i think she'll do fine without the manual, bro. and about everyone else, they went to get alphys and i gotta get some work done."_

"WHAT ABOUT ME? WHAT DOES THE GREAT PAPYRUS GET TO DO?"

 _"hmmm, how about you…"_ An evil smirk covered Sans' face. _"… i know. why don't you make some of your famous spaghetti for their date? i bet they'd appreciate your refined tastes and pasta!"_

Papyrus' face lit up. "BRILLIANT, SANS. THAT'S PERFECT! I'LL MAKE THE MOST DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI FOR OUR FRIENDS' DATE! NYEH HEH HEH! … BUT WAIT, WE'RE OUT OF NOODLES!"

 _"so, why don't you go get some from the store?"_

"YOU'RE RIGHT AGAIN, SANS. THANKS!" And with that, Papyrus ran out the door and, presumably, towards the store. Sans stood there for a moment and pu this hands in his pocket.

 _"welp, guess it's time to get back to work. i wonder what dad's planning…"_ Sans simply shrugged his shoulders and walked out the door towards his lab. Rather than use a 'shortcut', he'll save his magic and energy for later. He had a feeling that he'd need it.

* * *

As the shreds of darkness and bright light evaporated, reality took their place and showed that they had arrived in Hotland. It was a little disorienting, but Alex and Frisk shook it off, especially a they noticed they were directly in front of Alphys' lab. They looked to each other and smiled before turning towards Gaster. He took a step forward and knocked twice on the door.

The two knocks echoed inside the labs and could be heard through the door. After a few moments, they heard footsteps walk towards the door and a voice behind it.

"P-perhaps if I ignore it, th-they'll go away." She probably said that a bit too loud and didn't realize it.

 **Wow, she is a lot more nervous than I remember…**

 _Yeah…_

After standing there for a moment, Frisk spoke up. "D-doctor Alphys? I-it's me. Frisk…"

After another moment of hesitation, the door slid open and revealed the short yellow lizard monster wearing a lab coat and glasses. 'She hadn't changed one bit since he last saw her.' thought Gaster.

She made eye contact with Frisk for only a moment and smiled in a friendly manner before turning her attention towards the unknown monster behind her and the male human beside her.

"U-uh, a-another h-human? A-and a m-m-monster I've n-never seen b-before? W-who are you?"

She was confused, which was understandable. Frisk spoke up again, "M-mind if we come in, Alphys?"

She smiled weakly and nodded, beckoning them in. Gaster walked in, slightly nervous. Before he revealed the date, he needed to remind her of the past and everything she forgot. Well, he didn't 'need' to, but he should… plus he did promise Frisk and Alex. He sighed and sat down on a chair.

"S-so, what a-are you a-all d-doing here?"

 ** _"DOCTOR ALPHYS… THERE IS SOMETHING I NEED TO SHOW YOU… YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME AND REMAIN CALM, OK?"_**

She looked nervous and locked onto Frisk's eyes. "Don't worry Alphys, it'll be fine." She smiled at the reassurance. "What a-about the o-other human?"

 ** _"DON'T WORRY, YOU'LL UNDERSTAND IN A MOMENT."_**

She fell silent. Gaster closed his eyes and concentrated, allowing his soul to emerge from his body and float in the air. Alphys' eyes grew larger upon seeing the purple in this monster's white soul. How did this monster have a human trait in their soul? That's… odd…

The soul glowed brighter and brighter before sending out a shockwave that was absorbed by Alphys' body and soul, causing memories to re-flood into her mind.

She saw herself hear the news of Asgore's death and her subsequent depression. She saw herself hang out with Undyne, but never try to go any further than friendship. She watched the re-emergence anf return of Queen Toriel. She saw many other flashes before it then turned to her stopping the fight with Alex and Mettaton. Then to her healing Alex in the lab and their horrifying screams of pain. Then, the battle with Gaster replayed in her head.

In those short thirty seconds, everything came back to her. She even remembered working with Gaster on the CORE as his assistant and working with him with human soul traits. She gasped when the memories finally returned to her.

"D-d-d-doctor G-gaster?" Her eyes were wide open in realization, seeing the ex-Royal Scientist before her. Gaster nodded. She turned towards Frisk and Alex and a tear began to roll down her cheek as Alex ran over and hugged her tightly, causing her to form a real, large smile.

"Alex! Ha ha, I missed you all. G-Gaster… I, umm…"

 ** _"I UNDERSTAND ALPHYS, I'VE DONE MANY THINGS THAT I REGRET. SO, PLEASE, LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SAY THAT I'M SORRY… I'M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING I'VE DONE TO YOU ALL."_**

"T-thanks Dr. G-Gaster. I-I understand what i-it's like when you make a horrible mistake y-you can never take back. I c-can't hold that a-against you…"

 ** _"THANK YOU ALPHYS."_** Gaster smiled, relieved by Alphys' response.

"S-so… why'd y-you all come out h-here?"

 ** _"OBSERVANT AS EVER, DOCTOR. ALEX, IF YOU WOULD…"_**

Alex nodded and pulled out the letter. He handed it over to Alphys, who stared at it for a moment before walking over to her table nearby and grabbing a chainsaw. She used said chainsaw to cut open the top of the letter's envelope. Everyone found it kinda funny. She looked over it for a moment in silence. Her eyes grew wider and wider of time.

Alex spoke up while she was reading it, "By that way, it's from Undyne…"

Alphys' yellow scales turned beat red as she dropped the letter onto the ground, staring at the wall in front of her. "U-Undyne w-w-wrote t-this?!"

Gaster smiled and nodded, **_"YES, AND SHE IS PREPARING FOR A DATE WITH YOU SHORTLY!"_**

Her redish-yellow scales paled at this revalation. "W-what? nonononononononono! WhatdoIdo? WhatdoIdo? Ican'tdothis! Ican'tdothis! Ican'tdothis!"

Alex and Frisk wrapped her in a hug to comfort her. **Tell her to slow down, Frisk. I can barely understand her and her gibberish.** Frisk nodded, "Woah Alphys, slow down. It's ok!"

"N-no, it's not ok. I-I've been l-lying to her… I-I've been l-lying to everyone… a-about everything…" They both hugged her tighter, which she appreciated.

Gaster put his hand on her shoulder and bent down to look her in the eyes. **_"ALPHYS… TRUST ME AND TELL EVERYONE THE TRUTH. IT'LL BE OK. I KNOW EVERYTHING…"_**

If she could pale and further, she would. "Y-y-you k-k-know a-about t-them…?"

Gaster nodded and continued to make eye contact. **_"ALPHYS, LISTEN TO ME. NO MATTER WHAT, UNDYNE WILL NEVER HATE YOU. YOU READ HER LETTER, RIGHT?"_** She meekly nodded. ** _"WELL, SHE LOVES YOU, AND YOU LOVE HER, RIGHT?"_** She nodded again, this time with more of a blush and a bit more confidence. **_"IF YOU TRULY LOVE HER, YOU'LL TELL HER THE TRUTH. I PROMISE THAT NOTHING YOU DO COULD EVER MAKE HER THINK OF HATING YOU. YOU JUST HAVE TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF!"_**

Confidence appeared on Alphys' face. She smiled and nodded confidently. "Y-you're right Gaster! I-I'll tell her the t-truth. All of it! T-thanks!" The two humans detached from her as Gaster reached his arms around her and hugged her tightly, which she returned. **_"NOW, WHY DON'T YOU PREPARE FOR THE DATE AND I'LL WORRY ABOUT THE AMALGAMATES. I'M PARTIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM TOO."_**

"T-thanks, b-but don't return them to their f-families yet. I-I want to be there to e-explain." They both smiled and nodded in agreement before Alphys ran off to get ready for the date.

While she was away, getting ready, Gaster took the two humans downstairs to the True Lab to feed the Amalgamates and show them both many of the hidden truths about the Underground. They encountered all of the Amalgamates and Gaster spent his time reading and explaining many of the Lab Entries. He brought them by the room with the video tapes and showed them to them. Chara, in Frisk's head, remained quiet throughout the entire ordeal. They were also shown the origin of the dreadful being known as 'Flowey', as a determination experiment. However, that's all they knew.

After about thirty minutes, and after they fed them all, they returned back upstairs as Alphys was almost done getting ready. After they sat down on the couch, Alphys came from the back in a black dress with white spots. It looked beautiful. "H-how do I l-look?"

"You look amazing!" Alex spoked first.

 ** _"PERFECT ALPHYS!"_**

"Simply heavenly. Now I'm jealous that Undyne gets to have you."

 **OH MY GOD! FRISK! WHY!? YOU DUMB FLIRT!**

 _C'mon Chara, you feeling left out?_

 **Leave me out of your flirts, Frisk. I don't need any of that!**

Everyone laughed aloud for a moment before Alphys took a seat on a couch next to them. Gaster was wondering where Undyne was. Perhaps she and Toriel were running a bit late. They had time, so why not make conversation? Alphys spoke first, "H-hey Gaster, you m-mind if I ask why y-your soul was p-purple?"

Ahhh, yes. She never knew the story behind it, did she. He smiled, **_"OF COURSE, I'LL GLADLY EXPLAIN. IT ALL BEGAN SOMETIME AFTER THE FOURTH HUMAN CHILD FELL AND DIED."_**

They all leaned forward slightly to hear the story. He explained his work with the human souls and his attempts to use the human traits to find a way to destroy the barrier without the need for any more souls. One experiment in particular yielded a pure, concentrated form of Perseverance. One day, an accident happened and caused it to pour all over his soul, infusing the trait with his soul.

By the end of the story, Toriel and Undyne were knocking at the door. Perfect timing. Gaster rose and opened the door to see the two women standing there. "Doctor Gaster, how is Alphys? Is she ready?"

 ** _"YES, YOUR HIGHNESS. HERE…"_** He took a step to the side and motioned with both arms towards Alphys, whose blush returned at once.

Undyne, now with her hair made up and wearing all black walked in and saw Alphys in her cute dress. They both blushed and an awkward silence occurred between the two. Frisk interrupted, "Just ki-" before they could respond, their eyes turned bright red and they forced their own mouth shut. Alex snickered quietly, which Frisk/Chara noticed. Alex leaned over, "Nice going Chara, perfect timing."

Chara smiled weakly and nodded, "You know, Frisk is probably pissed at me now, but I wasn't just gonna let her do that."

"Thanks, and I'm sure everyone else is thankful too."

"No problem."

They turned their attention back to the two lovebirds as they walked towards each other. **_"I SUGGEST WATERFALL FOR THE DATE."_** They both blushed at this.

"Y-yeah U-Undyne. W-we could g-go to the d-dump and h-hang out there!"

Undyne flashed one of her famous toothy grins, "Perfect idea, Alphys! ONWARD!" She immediately picked up Alphys without hesitation and took off towards Waterfall for the date.

Everyone laughed but Alphys, who could be heard screaming in both enjoyment and fear as she was whisked away in an instant. After another moment, Toriel and Gaster faced each other. "So, Doctor Gaster, what next?"

He smiled, **_"I THINK IT'S TIME TO SEE HIS ROYAL MAJESTY KING ASGORE DREEMURR."_**

She frowned but nodded in agreement. Frisk took one of her hands and Alex took the other, both smiling at her and trying to comfort her. It worked and she smiled back. "Thanks, my children. You two are so nice!" She laughed as they followed Gaster to the entrance to the True Lab.

"Where are we going?" Toriel asked. **_"THROUGH THE BASEMENT IS AN ELEVATOR THAT LEADS DIRECTLY TO NEW HOME."_** She nodded and followed him inside the first elevator. It took them down fairly quickly. They hopped off and onto the next one, which brought them directly to New Home.

After only a moment or two of walking, they quickly walked towards the Castle. They rapidly approached Judgment Hall and walked through it in ease to arrive shortly in the Throne Room. The entire journey took less than thirty minutes. Asgore was nowhere in sight. They all, however, knew where he was waiting…

Onward to the Barrier!

* * *

Papyrus had already returned with the spaghetti noodles, but forgot that they were also out of vegetables, prompting another trip to the store. Now, returning with the second set of groceries, he heard a pop-like sound behind him and a flash of yellow behind him. He turned around to see an old friend.

"FLOWEY! HOW'VE YOU BEEN, MY GOOD FRIEND?"

"Golly, Papyrus, I've been swell. How about you?"

"THANKS FOR ASKING. I MET ANOTHER HUMAN AND FOUND MY DAD! IT'S BEEN A GREAT DAY, BUT MUCH BETTER NOW THAT YOU'RE HERE!"

"I feel the same way Papyrus. You're a cool friend. You know, I only want what's best for you, right?"

"OH COURSE, FLOWEY. WE ARE, AFTER ALL, QUITE GREAT FRIENDS! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"Thanks… but I have to tell you something… something important. But you have to be quiet, ok?"

"OH, SOMETHING IMPORTANT? DON'T WORRY FLOWEY, THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN HOLD SECRETS VERY WELL!"

"Great. Listen closely…" Flowey thought for a moment. This was too easy; now what excuse could he make? "… Frisk and their new friend, Alex, right?"

"YES, THEIR NAME IS ALEX. HOW'D YOU KNOW THAT, IF YOU DON'T MIND ME ASKING?"

"Golly friend, it's no big deal." Shit. "I saw them earlier. They're really nice!"

"OH WOWIE! MY FRIENDS ARE FRIENDS NOW? THAT AMAZING!"

"Yeah, well I think they're nervous to meet the king. I mean, we both know he's nice, but they don't know that. You should get everyone together to help support them!"

"WOWIE, THAT'S A PERFECT IDEA FLOWEY! THANKS, I'LL GO MAKE SOME CALLS!"

"Alright, thanks Papyrus. I knew I could count on you!" Flowey put on one of his 'innocent' smiles.

Papyrus smiled with glee, "NO PROBLEM FLOWEY. SEE YOU THERE?"

Flowey internally snickered, "Of course, friend. I'll see you and your friends there shortly!"

With that, Papyrus ran back towards his house to spread the word. Now that he was gone, Flowey let his façade fall. "Heh, idiot." Now that he got THAT going, perhaps he could still make something out of this timeline and try to regain control. Alex and Gaster have changed a lot, which still leaves everything uncertain. But maybe, just maybe, he could still make his plan work. He smiled and laughed fiendishly before darting back Underground to lay in wait for his plan to come together.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _You all know what will be coming next, and there may be a delay for this next chapter depending on how quickly I can write it. Sorry about that and the delay on this chapter, which I meant to take care of sooner. Hopefully, the contents of this chapter make up for the delay. Anyway, as I was saying, hope you enjoyed all of this and that you've enjoyed reading my story so far._**

 ** _Yeah, yeah, I didn't write or go into depth on Undyne's/Alphys' Date or the New Lab, but I felt like it wasn't 100% necessary to do so. If it really matters that much I could always try to make up for it._**

 ** _Feeling generous? Shower me in affection and compliments with reviews and/or PMs. I appreciate any support, and if you spot some spelling or grammar errors, let me know so that I may fix it up ASAP. See you all next chapter!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	22. Hopes or Dreams

The group of four reached the doorway to the barrier. Toriel looked towards the door in worry as Gaster put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Frisk and Alex each grabbed one of her hands to try to reassure her as well. After all, it had been many, many years since she last saw the King, and he likely had no idea they were coming.

She took a deep breath and smiled confidently, looking to the three people beside her and silently thanked them for the reassurance. They all then stepped through the doorway.

The light was overwhelming from the barrier, and the entire display around them was captivating. Asgore, mere feet in front of them, had his back turned towards them. They saw his ears perk up as he heard the footsteps. Back still turned, he spoke, "Have you done everything you needed to?"

There was a moment of silence, which he took as a yes since he heard no further steps away from him. He bowed his head slightly in sadness and sighed. He squeezed his right hand shut and summoned up the seven soul canisters. Or, he would have, but only six popped up. Each of the six had a soul within it, and the spot where the seventh should be was a broken piece of steel and a piece of paper.

Straining to see what it said, everyone squinted their eyes to see a piece of paper taped to the steel that read:

* * *

 _IOU_

 _-sans_

* * *

Asgore was surly surprised, but didn't show much surprise visible, only saying, "Hmmm, how peculiar. I'm gonna have to have a talk with this 'Sans'…" He sounded more confused then angry. He sighed again and began to speak as he turned around to face 'Frisk', "It was nice to meet y-"

His eyes opened to the size of saucers and his mouth went ajar when he saw who was truly behind him. Two humans, a skeleton monster, and… his wife… Tears began to form in his eyes as he locked onto Toriel's. She, however, didn't seem so happy to see him.

"T-tori… you came back…" He smiled weakly.

She stared him down with a scowl, "Don't you 'Tori' me, Dreemurr!"

He stood there in shock. She continued, "You pathetic whelp, you were planning on killing dear Frisk, here, to break the barrier. Am I right?"

Asgore bowed his head in shame. "T-toriel… I… I'm so sorry… I am pathetic…"

He raised his head slightly and looked her in the eyes and looked slightly hopeful, "D-do you think we could, at least, maybe be friends?"

She sighed and prepared to answer before Gaster interrupted, **_"YOUR HIGHNESS, DO YOU RECOGNIZE ME?"_** Nice save.

He looked at the skeleton beside Toriel in confusion. "I-I'm sorry but I've never seen you before." The skeleton nodded as if he was expecting that answer. He sighed and let his purplish-white soul float in front of him. It glowed brighter and brighter before sending off a pulse, straight into Asgore.

Asgore clutched his chest and felt images and memories of Gaster flood into him. (Because he died soon after this moment previously, none of the erased six months are in his memory.)

"D-Dr. Gaster? HA HA!" He ran forward and enveloped him in a large hug, "It has been so long, how have you been, my old friend?" Gaster smiled and returned the hug. I've been alright, I guess… Fluffybuns…" Asgore blushed madly and Toriel laughed as loudly as she could at this.

Asgore then bent down and looked at Frisk and Alex. "Frisk… I remember our fight… I'm truly sorry. Please, accept the apology of this old king." Frisk nodded without hesitation. Asgore then turned toward Alex. "… And who might you be, young one?"

"HOLD IT!" They all turned towards the entrance and saw Papyrus run in. "HELLO, YOUR HIGHNESS, IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS. I AM HERE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO MY GOOD FRIEND, ALEX!"

"Oh, Alex. That's a nice name, young man." Alex smiled at this compliment.

 _"heya guys, what's happening?"_

They all turned to see Sans now strolling in with both hands in his pockets. "HEY SANS, ABOUT TIME YOU GOT HERE!" Asgore's eyes opened widely, which Sans quickly noticed as he turned towards his 'IOU' note he left.

"Sans… you are the one who took one of the Soul Canisters?" Asgore narrowed his eyes, but this only forced a shrug out of Sans before he responded.

 _"heh, yeah. i needed it for a 'soul' purpose."_

"NNGGGAAAAAAA, ENOUGH OF THE PUNS, SANS!"

 _"heh"_ Toriel laughed at it too, as well as Frisk and Alex. Gaster and Asgore both rolled their eyes in sync. As if on cue, shouting was heard from the door as Undyne rushed in carrying Alphys. They were both in their 'Date Clothes'.

"No fighting, you two!"

"Y-yeah, m-make peace, n-not war!" Alphys, now on the ground, spoke up.

"Oh, hello Undyne. How goes it? Same for you Alphys!"

"We're fine. We were having a date, but we got a call to come here to help!"

They all smiled, especially Frisk and Alex. Almost all of their friends were together with them. Even Gaster was smiling widely from all of this. He missed having his friends and sons by his side. Something felt off, however. Gaster felt like he was forgetting something important. Then Alphys spoke up.

"H-hey Papyrus, why'd y-you call all of us here?"

"OH, A FRIEND OF MINE TOLD ME I SHOULD GATHER ALL OF FRISK'S FRIENDS FOR THIS FOR… SUPPORT… I THINK!"

"Oh really, that's so cool. Who was it? It better not have been Mettaton!" Undyne asked.

"LET'S JUST SAY, A TINY FLOWER HELPED ME!"

There it was. Gaster and Alphys paled the moment Papyrus said 'flower'. Both Frisk and Alex also responded negatively, and took a step back in fear. No one else knew why they were acting like that. Alphys tried to speak, "A-a t-t-t-tiny f-fl-flower…"

Then, vines rose from the earth at a fantastic speed. Both Sans and Gaster tried to shortcut out of the way, but were caught by them, anticipating their shortcuts. Every single monster was lifted up and held by the vines, which were constricting around them and causing visible pain. Flowey popped up in the center as another large vine shattered the other six soul canisters as the souls flew towards Flowey and circled around him slowly.

"Heh heh, you idiots!"

None of the monsters could respond, but the humans could. Chara, of course, was not happy by this twist. Although only Frisk could here her, she still spoke as if she could speak to him directly.

 **Fuck you Flowey. What the hell's your deal? You're such an asshole!**

Frisk giggled internally at her anger, but she, herself was still angry. "Why, Flowey? Why are you doing this?"

"Heh heh, you wanna know why? This timeline. This world. IT'S ALL MINE! …That is, until YOU came along and took it all away from me. You took my power!"

"So, why are you punishing all of our friends?" Alex cut in, also angry at this. He knew Flowey was pretty harsh, but this was new to him.

"Because, silly, if I let you all leave the Underground all satisfied and whatnot, you'll abandon me! You'll abandon our 'game' between us, Chara…"

Chara went silent within Frisk's mind as Frisk's eyes went wide open, as did Alex's.

"But you see, Chara. This game between us will never end! This is MY world. And I'll prove it to you… even if I have to kill you MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF TIMES TO PROVE IT!" Flowey began to laughed maniacally as he spawned hundreds of 'friendliness pellets' around them as both of their souls rose involuntarily from their chests before them.

They impacted them both. Their numbers matched.

 ***HP 15/20**

Then again, they impacted with their hard force. Both of them clutched at their chests in clear pain.

*HP 10/20

The pellets formed another ring around them and charged. Puncture wounds on their body now began to ooze blood.

 ***HP 5/20**

They now had noticeable holes in their sweaters as some of the white on Alex's sweater and some of the blue on Frisk's began to turn a reddish/purple. Another ring lined up to attack.

 ***HP 1/20**

And this, newest, ring impacted them. Their HP was dangerously low. They both knew the intolerable pain of what comes next if they don't do something. Flowey, still laughing, formed another, much larger ring around them. "GOODBYE!" He began to laugh as he made the ring slowly close in on them.

Suddenly, a ball of flames surrounded them and knocked away the pellets, shielding the pair. The fire also gave off a green light, healing them both.

Toriel spoke up and smiled despite the pain from the vines, "Do not be afraid, my children. We will always be here for you. I love you both!" Tears formed in Alex's and Frisk's eyes as they both yelled back to her that they loved her too. Flowey looked pretty angry.

He tried again, spawning another ring, but making sure this one goes much faster, but was blocked by three sets of bones. The two brothers and their father looked upon them.

"DON'T WORRY, DEAR FRIENDS. JUST DO AS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD DO: BELIEVE IN YOU!"

 _"c'mon guys, you haven't beaten this overgrown weed yet? he's got nothin' on ya!"_ Sans winked.

 ** _"ALEX. FRISK. IF YOU COULD STOP ME, THEN YOU CAN STOP THIS TYRANT! WE BELIEVE IN YOU BOTH!"_** He gave off a large, genuine smile.

Once more, Flowey sent another quick ring, but was blocked by a spear and lightning. Flowey was certainly getting pissed.

"Punk number one, if you could get past me, you can do anything. Punk number two, with those skills you showed off with Mettaton, you should be able to do anything too. Teach this jerk a lesson!" She gave off another one of her famous grins.

"T-technically, it's impossible to b-beat him… but it was i-impossible to bring Gaster back too, and you did that. S-so, I know y-you'll find a way to w-win!" Alphys tried her best to be reassuring, which was really appreciated.

Asgore looked up now as he used his magic to heal Frisk and Alex back up to full health. "Humans… for the fate of the entire Underground, stay determined. You two can do anything!" Asgore gave them both a gentle smile.

Flowey looked almost worried as the rest of all the monsters flooded in to encourage the humans to fight for the Underground. There were som many monsters that they recognized. All of the dogs came, the monsters from the CORE were there too. Everyone, even the froggits came to support them. Both Alex and Frisk grinned towards Flowey. Alex spoke, "See that Flowey, everyone is on OUR side. There's no way you could beat us!"

Flowey's face of worry disappeared instantly, "heh heh. You're ALL IDIOTS!" Alex and Frisk's smiled faded as a white glow overcame them. They heard Flowey shout a single line before everything was lost to the light.

"HAHAHAHAHA! ALL OF YOUR SOULS ARE MINE NOW!"

* * *

Everything around you was black, save for Frisk beside you and another, unknown, being in front of you. This new being appeared to be a monster, but this monster appeared to only be a child, about your age. They wore a green and yellow shirt, similar to the one Chara had when you fought her. They appeared to be crying… or laughing. You weren't sure.

They clenched their fists and spoke, "Finally… I was so tired of being a flower." Soon thereafter, the being turned around, which allowed a better look at them. They… no, he looked very similar to Asgore and Toriel. In fact, this may be their child. Frisk, beside, remained motionless, staring at the child in awe. You wondered if this was Frisk, Chara, or both.

Again, now turned around, he spoke in front of you, "Chara, are you there? It's me… your best friend…" Frisk's eyes flashed red for a moment as her face paled in what looked to be a combination of fear and awe. Then, the small child blinked and he was no more.

Now, fully grown, this being had a robe similar in style to Toriel's, adorned with that odd emblem. He now had full sized horns and black streaks going down his face. As he stood there for a moment smirking, literal words form out of thin air between you and him, filling you in on his identity. Flowey was actually…

 ** _ASRIEL DREEMURR_**

 **{Cue: Hopes and Dreams}**

 ***The sick beats of 'Hopes and Dreams' fills you with Purity.**

Asriel Dreemurr stands tall before you. You can feel reality, itself bending to his will. Unlike your encounter with Gaster, Asriel has the equivalent of seven human souls of power, while he only had six. The darkness soon gave way to a kaleidoscope of colors, as opposed to the normally colorless appearance during battles. This battle, you knew, would be quite unique.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***[CHECK] [HOPE] [DREAM] [PURIFY]**

 ***Asriel Dreemurr ATK – ∞ DEF - ∞**

 ***The absolute God of Hyperdeath**

 **"Oh… My… God…"** You heard Chara utter under Frisk's breath. Asriel just floated before them with a smirk for a moment. "HA! You fools! This is the end for you all!" His smile grew wider as he prepared his attacks. He raised both of his hands above him as large, glowing stars began to rain down from the heavens.

You immediately heard to Frisk's hand as you pulled her closer to you, narrowly avoiding the first star. She looked into your eyes and smiled confidently before you both continued to dodge. As, hand-in-hand, you moved around the field, you noticed Asriel simply standing there and watching. He seemed… amused. He didn't put much effort into the attack.

The stars finished raining, with no injuries to report. Asriel kept his smug smile up. "That was just a warm-up. And unlike that IDIOT Gaster, I will not be showing any mercy for this fight!" It was time to make another move. Perhaps you could Purify his dark heart?

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] [HOPE] [DREAM] *[PURIFY]**

 ***You felt your soul resonate and glow brightly before you. It rapidly blinked before sending off a beam of PURE energy.**

 ***Asriel caught it in the palm of his paw, continuing to smirk**

Asriel, smile even wider now, took the PURE energy and formed a blade with it. He threw it back at lightning speed, nearly hitting you, but it missed.

You looked on in horror as you saw his true target:

 **[P/URI\\\F||Y]**

There goes your PURIFY option. He laughed, causing his roar to echo off the surroundings. "You think I haven't seen what your PURITY can do? You idiot, I know everything! Hahahahaha!"

Then, he raised a single hand above his head as he called for his magic to come. He had a determined look I his eye. He meant business this turn. You turn towards Frisk and push her backwards and you jump away from her. Right where you were standing, lightning struck and left a small crater behind. As your eyes widen in fear, Asriel simply laughs at you.

You take off away from him towards the right, letting lightning crash behind you by mere inches. The hairs on your arms and legs were being singed from the energy. You looked up in horror as lighting strikes your current position, making every nerve in your body scream out in pain, likewise causing an audible scream from your vocal chords.

 ***HP 15/20**

On the ground, in pain, you try to get back up, but Asriel laughs at your weak attempt at recovery. He sends another bolt through your body, heating it to an unnatural temperature. Every muscle in your body seized up from the electrical current, sending you back onto your face on the ground.

 ***HP 10/20**

Suddenly, before Asriel could send another bolt towards you, you felt someone pick you up, throw your arm over their shoulder, and take off with you as fast as they could. You weakly opened your eyes to see Frisk was doing so… or actually, this was Chara. Chara, with their red eyes locked onto yours with worry continued to run with you in tow.

After just a few more seconds, the lightning came to a stop and gave the pair a moment to breath.

"T-… Th… thanks Chara…"

" **N-No p-… problem Alex…"**

You slowly stood back up to make another move. This fight was not going to be easy.

 ***Asriel readies Chaos Saber**

 **"Uh oh…"** You agree with Chara

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] *[HOPE] [DREAM]**

 ***You held onto your hopes… You reduced how much damage you'll take this turn.**

You looked up towards Asriel, who was still smiling. "It's actually pretty funny. YOU thinking you have a chance. …You know, after I defeat you and gain total control over the timeline… I just want to RESET everything." You blinked and he was gone. You reached instinctively towards the Clavicle, and it was still there. How? You didn't question it.

You looked over towards Frisk/Chara and locked eyes, she was holding a worn dagger in her hands. You went back-to-back as Asriel popped back into existence holding two long sabers. You and Chara reacted accordingly and parried the sabers with your blades. In front of both of you, Asriel was still smiling fiendishly.

Asriel moved to the side and swiped with both blades towards Chara, knocking the dagger out of her hands before stabbing her in the chest. Her eyes went wide in pain and a combination of Frisk and Chara screamed out in pain. The bloodcurdling scream sent shivers down your spine as she was flung away, writhing in pain in the distance.

You wanted to run after her, but Asriel blocked the way, using both Chaos Sabers against your single weapon. His strength was greater than yours, and you could feel him getting the upper hand. He continued to smile and taunted you.

"All your progress… Everyone's memories. I'll bring them all back to zero!" You put all of your strength into combating him, but it still isn't enough, "Then, we can do EVERYTHING all over again… this time CORRECTLY!" You yelled out in rage, using as much of your strength as you could muster to defeat him. You felt your chest heat up rapidly. You…

 ***You are filled with Pure Justice.**

Your soul glows yellow as it fires a strong beam into Asriel at pointblank range, creating a large cloud of dust. He was no longer in front of you like before. You had some breathing room. Then… the dust cleared…

Only about two feet in front of you stood Asriel Dreemurr, still grinning. "Impressive. I will admit, I didn't see that coming… But, please, understand…" He smiled coldly. "I am a god!"

He then thrust his blades into your right shoulder and left thigh, causing intense pain and bringing you to your knees. Your hopes reduced the damage, but it was still pretty bad. You looked slightly to the left.

 ***HP 2/20**

Asriel stood above you and smiled, "It's a shame, I wanted this game between all of us to last forever…" He raised his two blades up slightly and combined them into a single blade, preparing to kill you. You were at his mercy, which didn't currently exist. "Goodbye…"

Then, he swung both blades down where you were previously kneeling. You felt yourself being dragged quickly to the side and out of harms way. Looking up, you saw Frisk's face with brown eyes. "F-Frisk?"

They nodded confidently and picked you up into a hug. Your soul lost its yellow glow and return to its normal, shining silver color. You noticed there was no puncture wound in their chest. You smiled and asked, "W-what happened?"

"My soul's Determination was so great, that it refused death without a SAVE point! It… um… refused, I guess." They smiled.

She turned to face Asriel as he stood there with both blades gone now and both hands behind his back. His smile was much smaller, but still existed. Frisk's revival and Alex's escape must have surprised him.

Now that they've survived the attack, it seems that everything has calmed down for a moment. 'It was time to ACT again', you thought.

 ***Asriel charges Chaos Buster**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] [HOPE] *[DREAM]**

 ***You think about why you're here now… You can feel the empty space in your inventory getting smaller and smaller.**

Before Asriel could make his next move, Frisk reached into your pocket and pulled out a weird cloud-looking thing. They gave it to you quickly and told you to eat it. You obeyed and put it in your mouth. The moment it touched your tongue, it dissolved and filled your entire body with energy. It felt so great, you must've been dreaming!

 ***HP Fully Restored**

"Hey, you can't do that! That's cheating! That's not fair!" Now he sounded like the child he really was. He sounded like a spoiled brat who lost a game or something. Frisk did the only logical thing to do and stuck her tongue out at him, which he didn't appreciate.

"You know what the best part of all of this is? You'll do it. Again and again, you'll lose to me. Because you want a 'happy ending' and you 'love your friends'…"

He summons a large blaster/gun that fires bullets at them. Frisk, this time, grabs your hand and leads you to the right. Just in time since, upon looking behind you, you saw a large number of these 'bullets' hitting the ground. You felt your heart pace quicken and warm from Frisk's company.

You ran side by side with Frisk before pulling her towards yourself as you made an abrupt ninety degree turn, surprising Asriel and causing many, many more of the bullets to miss you both.

You both continued to run as the bullets suddenly ended. You were about to take a breather then you heard a large boom above you as you shoved Frisk away from you. They fell a few feet back and looked up at you in horror as a rainbow beam of energy cut into you from above. "…BECAUSE YOU NEVER GIVE UP!"

You felt a horrible, burning pain across your body as it continued to fire the seemingly endless energy. Suddenly, it seemed to let up for only a split second before it continued, burning even worse and having a much wider beam. Now, however, the beam was burning your insides as much as the outside. You recognized this pain: KARMA

You felt your HP quickly fall, rapidly approaching zero. "Hahaha, that fight with Gaster… I learned quite a bit from that fight. Your PURITY energy. This 'KARMA'. I've learned so much from this timeline… And I can't wait to put it to use in the next one…" He smirked as your HP ticked again and hit zero. Frisk screamed out.

…You felt your soul split into two and darkness surround you, just like last time. Booming laughter could be heard echoing…

…

 ***But it Refused!**

You felt your soul forcibly rejoin it's two shattered halves and reform into a full soul. This… this feeling was overwhelming. You felt almost reborn and full of energy. Sure enough, your HP was maxed out once more. You opened your eyes to the tie-dye landscape as you stood back up to your feet.

Frisk ran over to you, this time one eye was brown and the other was red. However, both had tears flowing out of them. "A-Alex, a-are you o-ok?!" **"Alex are y-y-you a-alright?!"** Both Frisk and Chara were nearly in sync, and both cared deeply about you, which warmed your heart even more.

You nodded and smiled before standing side-by-side with Frisk/Chara. Asriel did not like the fact that you were still alive. He shook his head, forcing a smile back onto his face, and shrugged before speaking again.

"Now… ENOUGH messing around! It's time to purge this timeline once and for all!"

 ***Asriel calls on Hyper Goner**

"This can't be good." **"I concur."** You nodded in agreement.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] *[HOPE] [DREAM]**

 ***You kept holding on. Damage reduced!**

You looked over to Frisk's and Chara's eyes and you all nodded in agreement. You were ready for this… or, at least, as ready as you could be…

Asriel disappeared and all of the color drained from the landscape, painting it a pitch black. You and your companions looked to each other in confusion. Then, a single white entity appeared before you, appearing very similar to one of the skeleton's Gaster Blasters. This one, however, looked far more menacing with Asriel's horns adorning it.

It slowly opened its mouth and sunk slightly into the ground. In this position, it's open mouth could easily be fallen into if you were close enough. Then, instead of firing a laser straight up (Which would've been pretty dumb), it began to suck in and absorb anything in its vicinity, including you.

You felt the pressure difference begin to pull you and Frisk towards the vortex and the 'blaster'. In response to this, both you and Frisk began to run with all of your might away from the blaster. As you both run, you see larger forms of the 'bullets' from his gun slide towards you and the vortex.

Both you and Frisk dive away in different directions before hopping back up to your feet at once and continuing the sprint. More and more whizzed by you as a few hit you, but the load seemed to have eased up on you. You would have been grateful, but you turned to the side and saw Frisk was cut and bleeding on their arms and legs. You looked towards them, hoping they'd be ok, until another bullet hit them and they fell onto their face, completely exhausted.

You ran over and dove towards them as they slid towards the epicenter of the vortex. Finally, you grabbed their left hand and drew The Clavicle from its sheath with your right hand before thrusting it into the ground. Then, the tension came.

Your body was now in a horizontal position and fully in the air. You felt the tension and force of the vortex try to pull you and Frisk in as you held tightly to The Clavicle, which was still firmly rooted into the ground. Frisk looked 'up' and made eye contact with you, shedding a tear of joy out of their red eye as you grunted, holding them tightly and making sure to hold this position.

After another few seconds, you both fell onto the ground as the vortex instantaneously let us. You both were down to a single HP left. This was not good at all. You looked up and saw Asriel standing above you smirking.

He spoke, "…even after that attack, you're still standing in my way…? Wow… you really ARE something special. But don't get cocky. Up until now, I've only been using a fraction of my REAL power!"

His smile only widened as you, Frisk, and Chara all looked upon him in fear as he continued, "Let's see what good your DETERMINATION and PURITY are against THIS!"

Everything went black.

* * *

 ***The world is ending.**

 **{Cue: Burn in Despair!}**

Floating in the darkness before you and Frisk was Asriel. Not as he was before, or as a kid. No, he was something else entirely, now. His horns were much larger, and he now wore armor with souls adorning it. Worst of all, he now had huge wings that changed to a kaleidoscope of colors. He was, quite literally, the Angel of Death.

He was laughing, "Urah ha ha… Behold my TRUE power!"

He held his hands out to his sides and summoned numerous glowing comets that went away, then arched towards you. You tried to move, but were unable to do so. You and Frisk were stuck, paralyzed and left to die. You closed your eyes as the inevitable impacts occurred, shattering your soul before it thrust itself back together. You were filled back up to full health, but it still hurt.

You and Frisk, now at full HP, stared at Asriel and prepared to advance, but were unable to do so. You looked forward and saw only a single option appear before you:

 **[STRUGGLE]**

Out of options, you chose it. Unfortunately, nothing happened. "I can feel it... Every time you die, your grip on this world slips away. Every time you die, your friends forget you a little more. Your life will end here, in a world where no one remembers you..." He continued to smile as he sent his second barrage of comets at you.

Again, being unable to move, you and Frisk took the beating as it drained your HP down to about 10. Again, the single option popped up and you were forced to choose it.

 **[STRUGGLE]**

"Still you're hanging on...? That's fine. In a few moments, you'll forget everything, too. That attitude will serve you well in your next life!" He smiled and sent another barrage of comets towards you as you were unable to dodge. As a result, your body was punctured many times over by these comets. You HP drained too far and you, once again, felt the sting of death.

Your soul pieced itself back together as Frisk's did the same. You were both nearly overcome with pain and exhaustion. He decided give you another try. You looked at your options but were again prevented from choosing anything other than 'struggle'.

 _"Ura ha ha... Still!? Come on... Show me what good your DETERMINATION is now!"_

 **[STRUGGLE]**

You struggled with all of your might, but couldn't do anything. You can't move your body. You struggled. Nothing happened. You watched Frisk try to reach for her SAVE file. Nothing happened. She tried once more, but nothing happened. She locked eyes with you. Her eyes were filled with fear. It seems SAVING really is impossible.

… But… Maybe, with what little power you both had… You could SAVE something else. Suddenly, a light flashed and you were both freed from your paralysis. The ACT menu morphed into a new option with a rainbow of colors.

 ***!?**

* * *

 **{Cue: Save the World}**

 **[FIGHT] *[SAVE] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***[TORIEL] [ASGORE] [UNDYNE] [ALPHYS] [PAPYRUS] [SANS] [GASTER]**

 ***You reached out to ASRIEL'S SOUL and called out to your friends. They're in there somewhere, aren't they? … Within the depths of ASRIEL'S SOUL, something's resonating…!**

Before you and Frisk stood Toriel and Asgore, both having an odd, blocky fog that could almost be described as 'glitchy'. They must have been 'Lost Souls', like when Gaster did something to the other monsters in the CORE. They stood before both of you, ready to be saved. You looked over to Frisk, both of you smiling and nodding confidently. It was time… but something was wrong…

The rules… the 'Battle Magic' seems to have fully degraded at this point. Sure, the buttons and options were here, but they also seem… destroyed… It seems the options were no longer going to help provide all of the answers. Alex and Frisk, together, reached out and chose the option:

 **[ACT]**

You call out to Toriel, calling her 'mom'. "Mom, please. I love you."

Frisk calls out to Asgore, stomping her foot firmly into the ground and shouting at him, "I refuse to fight you, Asgore!"

Both Toriel and Asgore's breathing falters momentarily before speaking.

"This is for your own good." "Forgive me for this." They both spoke with little emotion.

Suddenly, they summoned forth fireballs with their hands and swiped their hands towards you both, sending waves of them around you. You and Frisk, with one red eye and one brown again, roll in opposite directions underneath the first wave of flames before standing back up.

After standing, you regroup and smile to each other before bending backwards, as if they were playing limbo, underneath another wave of flames. Chara seemed to be saying something in Frisk's head, as she began to nod and grunt quietly to herself. Then, both of her eyes went bright red and a smile formed on her lips. However, this smile was not threatening or malicious, it was friendly.

Chara ran up to you and wrapped you in a one-armed hug before she then used her own magic to summon a ring of red, glowing, magical knives around herself and you. She smiled and winked at you before she sent them out in all directions, destroying the rest of the flames. They sailed forwards, but Chara recalled them into oblivion before they could get anywhere near Toriel and Asgore.

Now that the flames have stopped, you ran towards Asgore and shouted, "We forgive you, Asgore. For everything. Everyone can be a good person as long as they try!"

Chara, still in control of Frisk's body, turned towards Toriel. You looked out of the corner of your eye and saw the formation of tears in her eyes as she spoke, "M-mom, I'm sorry for everything! I still love you mom, please… forgive me!"

Again, both lost souls hesitated, this time even more so. They clearly were feeling something, but they were still in need of saving. They both spoke again.

"No one will leave again." "This is my duty."

This time, the flames formed circular into walls from floor-to-ceiling. The only opening in the was a single gap, but the walls were quickly shrinking inward, prompting action from both of you.

Chara looks into your eyes with hers and spoke urgently, **"Let me lead."** You nodded. Chara takes your hand and dashes through the first gap before circling to the left quickly, wasting no time.

After a quick moment, you both reached another gap, which you quickly move through to find more walls. This time to the right, you dash with her to the next opening. Then right, then left, and then left again. Finally, you both made it through the final opening and took a moment to catch your breath.

 **"We can do this, Alex. We can SAVE them!"** Chara looked seriously into your eyes as you nodded and smiled in response. "Yes, yes we can!" You both stood up a little straighter as you both approached the lost souls and tried to convince them to stop.

Chara ran up to Asgore and finally let a tear fall as they spoke, **"D-daddy? I-… I'm sorry dad…"** She jumped as high as she could and did her best to wrap her arms around Asgore to give him a hug. You smiled at the display of love, but focused on Toriel. "Mom… We'll never leave you again!" You mimicked Chara and jumped up to embrace her in a hug.

The lost souls remained silent for only a moment as they visibly trembled. Suddenly, everything came flooding back to them and the fog dissolved immediately. Toriel reached down and picked you up and hugged you deeply and affectionately. "My child, I love you too!" She smiled so warmly, you could almost feel her love for you.

Asgore did the same for Frisk/Chara, picking her up and holding her close. Unlike Toriel, he held her in his arms rather than hug them too. He looked into Frisk's now brown eyes and looked confused for a moment before he saw them flash and turn red. Tears began to flow from both of their eyes. "M-my daughter…? Ch-Chara?!" He asked weakly. Frisk gave her complete control for a moment.

She began to sob and bury her face into his chest, **"Daddy… *sob* I love you dad!"** He smiled with pure joy, the widest he's smiled in years, as he held his deceased daughter in his arms. He did not question it. He knew everything would be explained later. But the most important thing was that they were together again.

Toriel didn't catch what happened, but they began to fade as the light overwhelmed Alex, Chara, and Frisk.

Suddenly, they were back in front of Asriel, who didn't look pleased. "Huh? What are you doing…?" He demanded. You and Chara/Frisk looked at each other and wiped away your tears before nodding in silent agreement. Together, you all reached out for the **[SAVE]** option. You selected the next monsters to save.

 ***Within the depths of Asriel's SOUL, something's resonating…!"**

Now, standing before you, instead of Asriel, stood Undyne and Alphys, both still in their clothes from their date they had to end early. Undyne on the left and Alphys on the right. Just like Toriel and Asgore, their faces were clouded by the strange, unearthly fog, confirming that they, too, were Lost Souls. You both knew it was time to ACT. Before anything happened, Chara gave complete control back to Frisk.

You reached out towards them and called out, "You two look stunning this evening. Perfect for a date together!" Frisk, unfortunately, decided to join in. "Yeah, you two look super fine right now." She wiggled her eyebrows as you heard a deep groan from within her. You tried your best to not laugh.

If the Lost Souls didn't have that strange fog over their faces, they were likely blushing. For a moment, they hesitated, but only for that short moment.

"All Humans will die!" "You hate me, don't you…?"

Suddenly, green shields appeared on both Frisk's arm and your arm. Your souls turned green and you were unable to move from your current location. Luckily, you and Frisk were beside each other and went back-to-back for this. There was something odd with your soul, however.

You looked and saw a swirl of yellow and green in your soul. You were filled with Pure Justice and Kindness. Your shield, now, became much more circular and rounded while changing to a color similar to your soul.

Now, spears and lightning bolt-looking projectiles began to come at you both. You used your shield to reflect all of them, but you saw a large amount incoming, from all directions. You and Frisk turned to each other in fear and a thought popped up in your mind. 'What if have two traits meant that both magics worked at once.

To test it out, you sent all of your energy into your shield and focused on it. You focused on the need to protect Frisk and save your friends. You could feel the raw power of Justice and Kindness flood your senses. You quickly turned your head slightly towards Frisk and shouted, "Get down!"

Without hesitation, she dove towards the ground as you felt all of your energy be released. A large shockwave of Pure energy shot out in all directions from your shield, vaporizing all projectiles that were heading towards you both.

After you sent it out, you fell to your knees to catch your breath. That took a lot out of you. Frisk stood up and helped lift you both to your feet. They looked at you in concern, but you told her you were alright.

She smiled and nodded. Time to save their friends. Frisk ran up to Undyne and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. It, it looked like a love pat, which greatly confused you. A shudder fell across Undyne. You turned your attention to Alphys. "Alphys, no one hates you! We all care about you Alphys, and Undyne loves you, like a lot!" She shuddered too, hesitating to continue.

"Mercy if for the weak." "All I do is hurt people."

Undyne sent more spears towards you both as bombs now appeared from Alphys. You were unfamiliar with these bombs. Frisk seemingly read your thoughts and spoke quickly, "I'll worry about the bombs if you can take care of the spears." You reply, "I think I can do that!" You both smile and nod.

You focus on your soul, focusing purely on the kindness in your heart. In response, your soul in front of you loses the yellow swirl and becomes purely green. You shield increases in size and a second one appears on your other arm.

Over to your right, Frisk's soul is now yellow and pointed towards the bombs. She fired a shot at the first bomb, which goes of in a spectacular fashion, nearly hitting Frisk, but she jumps back and you use on arm to shield her from the blast. You flash a quick smile before using your shields to bash away the spears, which were flowing slower than the first round.

You continue to focus on the spears, swatting them away from both you and Frisk as she deals with the bombs before they get too close. She hops back and forth to shoot the bombs and allow you to protect her. After a few moments, both the bombs and spears end their approach and disappear. You are both ready to save your friends.

You run up to Undyne and grab both her arms, which were to her side. You grab her by the hands and start dancing side-to-side, forcing her to do the same. "Remember when we danced together? Was I your enemy, or was I your friend?" She shuddered intensely from the movements and words.

Frisk ran up to Alphys and held her phone out towards her. "Remember when you gave me this phone and helped Alex when they were hurt? You helped us, you didn't hurt us!" She shuddered from Frisk's kind words. Suddenly… everything came flooding back to them. The fog disappeared.

Undyne gripped your hands in response and moved in sync with you as you both danced. She smiled with all of her sharp teeth showing, "Hey punks! Yeah, I remember, and… I guess it was pretty fun when we danced…" She noticed what she admitted, "...B-but only a little bit!" She quickly added. You laughed.

Alphys smiled shyly at Frisk, "Hehe, y-yeah, thanks Frisk. W-we care about y-you guys!" Frisk hugged Alphys, surprising her before she quickly returned it. You took Undyne and led her over to Alphys before letting go of her hand as Frisk ended her hug with Alphys. Once you let go, Undyne threw and arm over Alphys and brought her closer.

Everyone was smiling as the light began to fade back in. Before they were gone, Frisk ruined the moment by calling out, "I expected a kiss!" Before everything flashed, you could clearly hear a shriek of anger and rage from Undyne towards Frisk. Then, the landscape flashed.

Together, you and Frisked smiled as Asriel was, once more, before them. He looked even angrier, "What are you two doing? Stop it!" He reached out to attack you two, but it was too late. Frisk laughed as she pressed the SAVE button and chose the skeleton brothers.

 ***Within the depths of Asriel's SOUL, something's resonating…!"**

Now stood the two goofy skeleton brothers: Papyrus and Sans. They both had the fog over their faces, signifying their current status as Lost Souls. An idea flashed in your mind. You looked over to Frisk and spoke aloud, so everyone could her you clearly, "Knock, Knock!"

Frisk's smile grew as they caught on, "Oh boy, who's there?"

You smiled too, unable to hid the pleasure this was giving you, "Ima door."

Now confusion set upon Frisk's face as she replied, "Ima door who?"

"No, silly. You're adoorable."

A bright blush erupted across Frisk face as she realized what just happened. Her eyes turned red for a split second to let out a deep laugh before they turned back to brown and the laugh was silenced.

In front of you, both skeletons trembled. Sans looked like he was holding back a laugh while Papyrus looked to be holding back a shriek. After a moment on composure, they spoke.

"I MUST CAPTURE A HUMAN!" _"just give up. i did."_

Both you and Frisk's souls turned blue as bones began to appear and head towards you two. You both join hands as you jump over the hurdles of bones from the pair. You smile together as you continued to run, hand-in-hand, and jump over the obstacles. Then, some of the walls went much higher, forcing you to jump as high as you could, narrowly missing the bones.

After just a few more walls, the skeletons had stopped for a moment. Time to save them. Frisk ran up to Papyrus, "Hey Pap, I'm hungry. Could you cook us some Spaghetti?" He shuddered, barely holding himself back from going to prepare the pasta.

You turned your attention to Sans, "Did you give up to save Gaster? Did you give up to save Frisk? You've never given up on us, Sans, and we'll NEVER give up on YOU!" He shuddered as well. It looked like it wanted to cry, but stopped itself. Both skeletons spoke again, under their trance.

"THEN EVERYONE WILL." _"you'll never see 'em again."_

More bones began to form as you grabbed Frisk's hand again to dodge the projectiles. You jump again and again, until you noticed the taller, blue bones coming. You both dove for the ground and narrowly reached it in time as the attacks passed harmlessly over you. You both got back up to continue jumping before the next blue bones came, which prompted another crash landing into the ground.

After a bit longer, the bones stopped. You both knew what to do next. You ran over to Papyrus and smiled to him, "Papy, please listen to me. Frisk, me, we both need your help! Remember when you helped me against Grillby?" He shuddered, starting to remember everything.

Frisk ran up to Sans at the same time and hugged him tightly, "But Sans, we got me back! You saved me! And you saved your dad too! No one's going to leave! Don't you remember?" He shook for a moment, trying to remember everything. Then, everything came flooding back for them. The fog dissipated.

Sans returned the hug to Frisk, _"'course i remember, kiddo. how could i forget you guys?"_ Sans smiled and held Frisk's hand while walked towards Papyrus. Papyrus picked up you up in joy and had tears on the edge of his eye sockets. "OH MY GOD. I ALMOST HURT MY FRIENDS! DON'T WORRY HUMANS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, COULD NEVER FORGET YOU TWO! I CARE DEEPLY ABOUT YOU ALL!"

 _"hey bro, you ok?"_

"O-OF COURSE I'M FINE BROTHER, I JUST… CAUGHT SOMETHING IN MY EYE… YEAH!"

Sans smirked before responding, _"oh yeah, and what did ya catch in your eyes?"_

"TEARS! *SNIFFLE*" Papyrus held you closely before putting you down and looked at you and Frisk. The light began to brighten as they heard the two brothers speak once more, "GOOD LUCK, HUMANS!" _"i'm rootin' for ya, kids!"_ Then, the light flashed.

Asriel was very angry now. "What are you two DOING? Whatever it is, stop this at ONCE! This is MY WORLD, not YOURS! LISTEN TO ME!" He reached for you both again, but you were already long gone as Frisk selected the last person who had to be saved.

 ***Within the depths of Asriel's SOUL, something's resonating…!"**

Now, standing tall and also covered in the strange fog, Doctor Gaster stood before you both. He had both of his arms by his side. You and Frisk both stand there for a moment, trying to think of what to do to save Gaster.

Frisk seems to be unable to come up with anything, so you must ACT. You speak up, "Doctor Gaster, can you hear me? It's me, Alex! Don't you want what's best?" Gaster breathed deeply for a moment before speaking.

 ** _"I'VE DOOMED THIS WORLD. MADE TOO MANY MISTAKES. I SHOULD'VE STAYED IN THE VOID…"_**

Gaster raised both hands and summoned several of his signature blasters, all charging their beams at once. You look closely as see that the energy is tinted slightly orange. You turn to Frisk and watch them dive towards you, sending you both backwards as the orange beams pass harmlessly through you.

As you thank Frisk and collect yourself, you see the Gaster Blasters charging another orange beam. Seeing that Frisk is not recovering fast enough, you bend down and pick them up with both arms before taking off and running through the orange beams as they fired again. After that second set of blasters, Gaster finished attacking them.

Frisk spoke up to reply to what Gaster said, "But you want to fix things. You want to SAVE our world. You meant only good, right?" Gaster shuddered for a moment before quickly recomposing himself and speaking again.

 ** _"MY SONS, MY FRIENDS. I CAN NEVER LET THEM SEE ME AGAIN. I MUST DISAPPEAR."_**

You were about to object, but saw him summon forth more blasters. As they charged up in different formations this time, you noticed there was no tint to the energy. Frisk looks to you and nods to you. You both begin to run to the right, dodging the first set of blasters.

Next, you dive and roll underneath the second set of blasters as the energy sails above you without leaving behind any damage. As you get back up to your feet, you take Frisk's hand and dash forward, narrowly missing the third set of blasters.

After the third set, the blasters die down and Gaster is recovering. You both ran over to Gaster to try to save him. You speak up now, "Gaster, your sons love you. Everyone cares about you. You may have messed up, but you can still fix this. You will be ok!" Gaster shudders and vibrates for a second before he responds again.

 ** _"IT IS TOO LATE FOR FORGIVENESS. IT IS TIME I ACCEPT MY FATE!"_** Before Gaster could begin another set of attacks, Frisk and you both jump up and wrap him in a hug. One of Frisk's eyes goes red, signifying Chara's presence, as they all say the same phrase to Gaster in unison.

"We forgive you."

Suddenly, everything comes flooding back to him and the fog disappears forever. His eye, now visible, show deep regret. **_"ALEX. FRISK. CHARA. I AM SO SORRY FOR EVERYTHING I'VE DONE. ALL THE PAIN. ALL THE DAMAGE. I AM TRULY SORRY."_**

This only causes them to hug him tighter. He smiles and hugs them back. **_"THANK YOU."_** He breaks off the hug and speaks to them all at once, **_"AFTER THIS IS ALL OVER, I WANT TO TRY TO BEGIN TO MAKE UP FOR MY MISTAKES. WHEN IT'S DONE, COME TALK TO ME…"_** He smiled gently towards the children.

 ** _"GOOD LUCK…"_** His smile grows slightly larger as the world fades back into the light before showing Asriel before them again.

Asriel shouted to them, "That's enough! No more games, you too. Alex, Chara. This is MY world!" You looked over to Frisk/Chara as the SAVE button floated before you. You could feel something else resonating within Asriel's SOUL. Perhaps, there was still someone left to save. But who…? Suddenly, you all realize who. You reach out and call out their name.

"ASRIEL!" All three of you shout in unison.

 **{Cue: His Theme}**

Suddenly, the energy from Asriel sends out a shockwave and send images into all of your minds, including his. You watch someone, who must be Chara, fall into the Underground, but be helped up by Asriel as a kid. You watch how the entire Dreemurr family accepts her and she becomes best friends with Asriel.

The images fade and Asriel's face widens in fear. His eyes become much larger before he narrows them at you. "Wh… what did you do…?"

You all stand firmly before him. "What's this feeling…? What's happening to me?"

Chara called out using Frisk's body, **"We're saving you, Asriel."**

"No! NO! I don't need ANYONE!" He pauses for only a moment as you take a step forward. "STOP IT! Get away from me! Do you hear me!? I'll tear you apart!" He extends his hand and sends comets at you, like before. This time, however, there are far less and they move far slower than before. You all easily dodge them all. You all take another step forward.

"… Chara… Do you know why I'm doing this…?" Asriel hangs his head in defeat and both arms fall to his sides. Chara's eyes widen when she hears her name. "Why I keep fighting to keep you around…?" Everyone looks to him in confusion.

"I'm doing this… Because you're special, Chara. You're the only one that understands me. You're the only one who's any fun to play with anymore." Everyone takes another step forward towards Asriel.

"… No… That's not JUST it. I… I… I'm doing this because I care about you, Chara! More than anyone else" Chara/Frisk's mouth opens slowly to his full length. "I'm not ready for this to end. I'm not ready for you to leave. I'm not ready to say goodbye to someone like you again…"

Chara reaches out a hand towards Asriel, "A-Azzy…"

He then began to cry out, "So, please… STOP doing this… AND JUST LET ME WIN!" He then puts his hands together and summons a beam of unimaginable power that consumed you and Chara. The pain was intense and you felt your HP plummet… but… you stayed Pure. You stayed determined.

"STOP IT!" You held on as your HP hit one. However, instead of going to zero, it just continued to lower. First to 0.1, then to 0.01, and then further and further. However, even under all of the pain, you continued.

"STOP IT NOW!" You felt the beam press harder against you as your HP hit its lowest point: 0.0000000001 HP. Then, the beam stops and he fully hangs his head in defeat and his body slowly began to fade.

"…Chara…" No one responded.

"I'm so alone, Chara…" Everyone's hearts sank a little bit. You all felt bad for him.

"I'm so afraid, Chara…" Everyone took another step closer to him, now only being a few feet from each other.

"Chara, I… I…" Then everything faded and flashed, leaving only darkness around them. Stand now, in front of Chara/Frisk and you stood Asriel. Not as a 'god of hyperdeath' or as an 'angel of death'. No, this was Asriel. The true, real Asriel, as a kid a bit younger than you and Frisk. He held his arm over his eyes as he cried into his green sweater.

* * *

Alex, and Frisk stood there for a moment, allowing Asriel a moment to cry. Frisk returned to having her eyes being their natural brown, but Chara was still listening and paying close attention. He stopped and looked up at them. "I'm so sorry. I always was a crybaby, wasn't I, Chara." Chara remained silent, but Alex noticed a tear form in Frisk's eye as it flickered between brown and red.

Asriel stopped for a moment before continuing, "… I know… You're not actually Chara, are you? She's been gone for a long time…"

He picked up his head slightly higher, "Y-you're Frisk, right? And Alex?"

Both of them nodded. "That's… A nice name." He smiled for just a moment before his frown returned. "Frisk… Alex… I haven't felt like this for a very long time. As a flower, I was soulless. I lacked the power to love other people. However, with everyone's souls inside me…"

His frown shrunk and threatened to return to a smile. "I not only have my own compassion back… But I can feel every other monster's as well. They all care about each other so much, and… they care about you two too…" Both Frisk and Alex approached him as he continued.

"I wish I could tell you how everyone feels about you. Papyrus… Sans… Undyne… Alphys… m-… Toriel… Heh, monsters are weird. They've only known you for a short while, yet it feels like they all really love you two."

Frisk's eyes flashed between brown and red quickly, shedding another tear. Asriel, however, didn't notice the momentary flash of red.

"Frisk… Alex… I… I understand if you can't forgive me. I understand if you hate me. I… I acted so horrible. I hurt you. I hurt so many people. Friends, family, bystanders… There's no excuse for what I've done…" He looked down and back in shame.

Frisk, Alex, and Chara all had the same idea. They walked up to him and cuddled him in a big hug. Frisk, choked up on their own and Chara's tears, couldn't speak, so Alex did, "We forgive you, Asriel!"

Now Asriel raised his head and returned the hug, just barely holding back tears of his own, "Wh… what? Guys, come on. You're… You're gonna make me cry again…" His smile once again shrunk. "… besides, even if you do forgive me… I can't keep these souls inside of me. The least I can do is return them, but first… There's something I have to do."

He broke away from the hug and took a few steps back. "Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts and souls beating as one. They're all burning with the same desire. With everyone's power… determination… It's time for monsters… to finally go free!"

Asriel closed his eyes and summoned the six human souls around him as they spun around his form. He began to levitate in the air as the souls spun around him quickly before being joined by every other soul in the Underground. They spun faster and faster as he rose higher and higher into the air. Then… flash! Bang!

The sound of a sonic boom echoed throughout the Underground as the barrier shattered and collapsed into nothingness. The barrier was destroyed. Everyone would now be free!

Then, Asriel was in front of them again, with all of the souls gone now. He smiled weakly, "Frisk, Alex… I have to go now." Chara threatened to send torrents of water through Frisk's eyes when he said this. Frisk seemed to be talking to Chara in their mind, nodding and remaining silent.

"Without the power of everyone's souls… I can't keep maintaining this form. In a little while… I'll turn back into a flower. I'll stop being 'myself'. I'll stop being able to feel love again. So… Frisk and Alex…"

He continued, "It's best if you just forget about me, OK? Just go with the people who love you." Frisk and Alex immediately run forward and grab him in another hug. "ha… ha… I don't want to let go…" Then, the waters came. Both of Frisk's eyes changed to Chara's red color, signifying Frisk giving her control.

Still in the hug and not seeing Chara's eyes, he continued, "You're… You're going to do a great job, OK? No matter what you do, everyone will be there for you, okay?" Chara closed their eyes as the tears continued and Asriel took a step back.

"Well... My time is running out. Goodbye… By the way… please, you two… take care of Mom and Dad for me, OK?" He took another step back and turned around to leave. Chara couldn't take it anymore.

 **"… A… Az… AZZY!"** Asriel froze in his tracks and spun around to see Chara's eyes meeting his. She ran up to him and wrapped him in another hug. **"Azzy, I'm so so so so sorry azzy!"** Chara began to soak Asriel's sweater with her tears. **"I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…"** Asriel wrapped her in the hug too. He let out more of his own tears.

"I love you, Chara. You're my best friend!" They both were crying, but also smiling. They were finally reunited.

"Chara… I… I don't want to ever let go…"

 **"Me neither, Azzy. Me neither…"**

After another few moments, Asriel broke off the hug. "I… I have very little time left, Chara. I… I don't want you too see me turn back into a flower…" He smiled weakly and spoke again, "And Chara, I'm sorry too. For everything…" She smiled weakly through Frisk's mouth as he left. Chara turned back towards Alex. **"Alex… Frisk… Thank you, for everything…"**

Everything faded to black as they lost consciousness.

* * *

Suddenly, light flooded back into all of their senses as the woke up surrounded by all their friends. Everyone cheered and smiled when they saw them stirring on the ground and waking up. Toriel spoke first, "Alex, Frisk! You're ok, thank God!" She wrapped them up into another big hug. In the hug, they could see Gaster and Sans conversing privately behind everyone else.

"HUMANS, DID YOU HEAR IT? THE BARRIER BROKE!"

"Yeah, punks, was that your doing? Awesome!"

They both smiled weakly, due to emotional and physical exhaustion. They were asked how they were and what happened during the fight with Flowey. They only remembered the parts when they were saved as Lost Souls, but nothing about Asriel was there. Maybe… that was for the best…

Frisk walked over to Asgore as Alex approached Gaster while everyone else was conversing on what they would do now. Alex could hear a little bit from Frisk's conversation. It sounded like he was asked Asgore to not say anything about her red eyes and Chara, and that they'd tell everyone when the time was right.

Alex spoke to Gaster now, "So, Dr. Gaster. You said you needed to talk with us?" Gaster motioned with his hands to come closer and take a short walk with him. After they stepped over to the side, where no one could hear them, he spoke, **_"ALEX, IN A LITTLE BIT, I'LL BE PERFORMING AN EXPERIMENT AS A GIFT TO YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE FOR WHAT I'VE DONE. FOLLOW MY LEAD AND YOU'LL SEE IT, OK?"_**

"…ok Gaster, I trust you."

 ** _"THANK YOU…"_**

They both rejoined the group right as Frisk ended the conversation with Asgore. With everyone quiet, she spoke, "So, what's next?"

"How about we go check out the surface?" Responded Undyne.

"W-wait. Before we go, I h-have something I n-need to d-do!" Alphys interjected. Undyne wrapped her arm around her and comforted her.

"Alright. So, if anyone has anything that you need to do before we leave, now would be the time to do it, I guess." Toriel concluded.

 ** _"YOU HIGHNESSES, I'D LIKE TO BORROW FRISK AND ALEX FOR A LITTLE BIT. WOULD YOU MIND?"_** Both Toriel and Asgore shook their heads, and gave permission. He smiled and held out his hands to both children. Gaster smiled before turning towards Sans and nodding.

 _"welp, i gotta go too. be back soon."_ He waved and walked off towards where the barrier was before disappearing. Gaster smiled and held tightly onto Frisk's and Alex's hands as they took another shortcut. The entire time, Chara remained silent.

* * *

When the light came back, they were all standing in Sans' lab in Snowdin. Gaster, still holding their hands, brought them over towards the machine that brought him and Frisk back in the corner. He then reviled part of his plan.

 ** _"ALEX, I NEED YOUR ASSITANCE IN RUNNING THE MACHINE, IF YOU WOULD BE SO KIND."_** Alex, still confused, looked over to Frisk, who nodded, encouraging him to do it. Alex nodded and summoned forth his soul and sent the Pure energy into the legendary artifact, causing it to shine brightly.

As the machine started up, Gaster used his own magic to not only help keep it together, but to amplify and alter the way the machine worked. Suddenly, and loud boom erupted from the machine as another doorway to the Void opened within the Soul Canister. As it remained open, a dust-like substance flowed out of the hole and spun around like a tornado inside the capsule. It grew in height and width as more came out and joined the tornado before Gaster pulled away his magic and Alex stopped using his. They both took a step back and sat on the couch that was down there.

 ** _"EX-EXCELLENT WORK ALEX… NOW… WE JUST HAVE… TO WAIT FOR SANS…"_** Frisk walked over and plopped down on the couch between them as they waited patiently for Sans, for some unknown reason. Gaster stood up and went to examine the monitors and read the data on them.

On cue, right as he reached the monitors, Sans walked downstairs with a familiar monster in tow. _"welp, here we are."_

"What are you doing? I don't unders-" Then, his eyes lit up in both surprise and joy as Asriel saw Frisk and Alex on the couch. They, too, were surprised by his presence, and jumped up to wrap him in yet another hug. Frisk's eyes flashed and turned red as Chara took over and hugged even tighter. Sans simply joined Gaster by his side.

As they were all laughing and enjoying the reunion, they were interrupted by angry yelling, **_"NO, NO, NO, NO, NOO! HOW WERE THE READINGS OFF!? THIS SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!"_** In anger, Gaster smashed his hand into the table and left a descent sized hole in it.

 _"careful dad, don't wanna break a bone. or a skele-ton of them."_

 **"Ok, that one was bad, even for Sans."** Sans shrugged as Gaster glared at him. Clearly, this wasn't the time for jokes. Gaster sighed in frustration and turned towards the three-four children on the couch.

 ** _"ALRIGHT, SO I'VE GOT SOME GOOD NEWS, AND SOME BAD NEWS."_**

"How about the good news?" Alex quickly asked.

 ** _"THE GOOD NEWS IS, THE EXPERIMENT SUCCEEDED…"_**

 **"Wait, what experiment?"**

"Y-yeah, what were you trying to do?" Asriel asked.

 ** _"IN THE SOUL CANISTER IS A COLLECTION OF MAGICAL ENERGY AND PIECES OF SOULS FROM OTHERS WHO FELL INTO THE VOID BUT DIDN'T SURVIVE LIKE ME. WITH THIS, I CAN ESSENTIALLY USE IT TO…"_** Gaster looked towards Asriel, **_"GIVE YOU A SOUL"_** Then Gaster turned towards Chara, ** _"AND GIVE YOU BACK A BODY."_**

"Awesome!" Asriel cheered. Chara quickly cut in, **"Wait, what's the bad news?"**

Gaster sighed again and looked down to the floor in shame, **_"THE CALCULATIONS WERE INCORRECT, AND BECAUSE OF THAT…"_** He looked up with sadness in his eyes, **_"THERE'S ONLY ENOUGH FOR ONE OF YOU TO BE FULLY RESTORED."_**

Both Chara and Asriel went silent as fear entered their eyes. Was this really it? Only one of them could be restored fully? Gaster spoke up again, **_"DON'T GET ME WRONG, I WILL NOW BE WORKING ON FINDING ANOTHER WAY TO REVIVE THE OTHER, BUT… IT MAY TAKE SOME TIME…"_**

Asriel and Chara jumped up and pointed to the other as they both shouted. "Revive her!" **"Revive him!"** They both looked to the other in surprise. They were both willing to put off their own life so that the other could get it first.

 **"No, Gaster. Revive Asriel. I was the one responsible for his death. If it weren't for me, he would have never died."**

"That's ridiculous, Chara. I made the choice to not fight back! I caused my own death. But you, you did a horrible, painful death. You were mistreated on the surface. You, more than anyone else, deserve a second chance."

 **"NO ONE'S ABOVE CONSEQUENCES, ASRIEL! I MADE MY CHOICES. I CHOSE TO DIE. You… you didn't…"**

"Chara… I'm not above consequences either. I… I killed everyone so many times. I killed and hurt so many people. If anyone deserves consequences, it's me."

 **"But you were soulless. That wasn't your fault. I never lost my soul. I choose to do everything that I did… with a soul!"**

"I may have been soulless, but that was still ALL ME!"

Alex stood up and got between them both. **"Azzy… please… you take the soul!"**

"I'm sorry Chara, but you deserve it more than me…"

Gaster looked between the two and could not decide on what to do. Both made excellent points, and both of them want the other to be saved rather than themselves. Gaster was really starting to hate himself right now. He was forcing a difficult choice. If only his calculations weren't so far off…

Sans stayed back near the counter and monitors, away from the situation. He definitely didn't want to get in the middle of this. Too bad the couch was on the other side of the argument and he was too exhausted to use a shortcut.

Frisk remained silent the entire time, but talked with Chara internally. Obviously, she was unable to decide too. Alex knew that if a choice wasn't made for them, they would never reach an agreement. Alex also had a feeling that if a choice wasn't made soon, they might not ever be able to be revived. Alex knew what they had to do. They had to choose for them. This decision was definitely not going to be an easy one, but it needed to be made.

He took everything that was said and what has happened up until this point into consideration. Alex tried to see what the best choice would be, but there was no 'right' choice here. After staying silent and thinking internally, they were ready to choose.

This… This would not be easy…

* * *

 ** _Author's Note: {IMPORTANT}_**

 ** _Alrighty then, do you know what time it is? It's DECISION time! I'm leaving this decision up to all of you. After I upload this, I will be trying to put a poll together on FanFiction to see what you all decide on. This poll will NOT display current results (in order to not have any votes be swayed) but WILL keep everyone's vote anonymous. I will NOT know who voted, or for what. All I get are the numbers. Check my profile for the Poll… I think. Anyway, please, take the following into account before you use the wonderful tool of democracy:_**

 ** _1._** ** _The Genocide Route NEVER occurred in PureTale. This is the first run, with there only being a large amount of time undone by Frisk's CONTINUE, but there was never an actual RESET._**

 ** _2._** ** _Voting for one will NOT rule out the possibility of the other ever coming into play. However, there may or may not be an extended period of time before you see the other person being 'revived'._**

 ** _3._** ** _Both are valid choices. If Asriel is revived, Chara will remain in Frisk's head for the time being. If Chara is revived, Asriel will remain as Flowey for the time being._**

 ** _4._** ** _This is a big choice that may not heavily impact PureTale (Since it is nearing the end), but I'm planning a sequel, and this decision will shape the course of it._**

 ** _5._** ** _Finally, if you're a guest, I don't believe you can vote in the poll. I'm sorry about that, but maybe a quick account creation is worth it if you wanna vote._**

 ** _Alright, that's all. I'll be writing the next chapter after the votes are finalized, which will probably be at some point Sunday morning. Have fun, hope you liked the chapter (It IS my longest one), and see you all next time!_**

 ** _Extra Note: If there's an issue for some reason, let me know and I'll try to fix it ASAP_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	23. Return of the Prince

Alex only stood there a moment longer before finally coming to their conclusion. He took a step forward and got between the two arguing children. Both Chara and Asriel went silent as Alex began to speak. Gaster's eyes widened and Sans seemed to be fully awake now. Alex cleared his throat and looked into Gaster's eyes.

"Asriel."

"What?!" Both Chara and Asriel spoke at the same time.

 ** _"AND HOW DID YOU COME TO THAT CONCLUSION, IF I MAY ASK?"_**

Alex nodded and turned to Chara, "Chara, you may not have a body and soul of your own, but you share one with Frisk. You can feel love and compassion." Alex then turned to Asriel, "Asriel, if you don't get your soul back, you'll be a hate-filled flower without the capacity to love or care. YOU need it more."

"…B-but…" Asriel tried to argue, but failed.

Alex put a hand on his shoulder, "Asriel, you can still talk to Chara, but if Chara got a body instead, would Chara be talking to you, or to Flowey?"

Asriel bowed his head in defeat, knowing that this was the right choice. Chara smiled and spoke softly, "Thank you." Alex nodded and wrapped the two of them into a hug, everyone smiled.

Sans decided to ruin the moment, _"welp, that answers that."_ Chara looked up and glared at him with her red eyes. He just shrugged and walked back over beside Gaster.

 ** _"ALRIGHT, IF THAT IS THE DECISION, I'LL PREPARE THE MAGIC ESSENCE FOR YOUR SOUL TRANSFUSION."_**

Asriel's eyes went wide with confusion, not knowing what that means. Sans smiled and shrugged again, _"it's ok kiddo, this kinda stuff, in essence, is soulely understood by us scientists."_

While working on the machine, Gaster groaned quietly while Chara did it on a higher volume. Alex simply walked up to Sans with a smile across their face and high-fived Sans.

 _"heh, thanks kiddo."_

Gaster worked for a few more minutes until the machine began to whirl back into motion, causing the essence within the canister to swirl together and compress itself. After just a few seconds, all of the essence inside formed a solid white, upside down monster soul with a few streaks of silver in it. The three children looked at it curiously, which Gaster noticed.

 ** _"THE SILVER STREAKS ARE FROM YOUR PURITY MAGIC, ALEX. IT ADDED STABILITY TO THE SOUL, ALLOWING IT TO PERSIST FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME THEN SOULS NORMALLY LAST."_** Gaster then looked over to Sans and spoke again, **_"SANS, IF YOU WOULD."_**

Sans nodded and detached the Soul Canister from the machine and brought it over to Asriel, _"alright kiddo, you ready?"_

Asriel looked nervous, but Chara held his right hand firmly, trying to encourage him. He calmed down and nodded confidently. Sans held out the canister to him and opened lid to it, allowing the soul to float out of it. Asriel reached up and touched it with his left paw, which caused a bright flash the moment he made contact.

When everyone regained their sight, the soul was gone and now inside of Asriel. Alex looked over to Chara and saw her eyes were now brown, signaling Frisk being in control again. It appeared that she was having an internal conversation with Chara, who was likely thanking Frisk for everything.

Asriel smiled and laughed with joy before tackling Frisk and Alex to the ground. They all laughed as Gaster and Sans smiled, looking on at this display. Asriel looked up and made eye contact with Gaster, "T-thanks Dr. Gaster… and Sans… for everything!"

Gaster smiled and nodded while Sans maintained his smile and shrugged, _"no problem kiddo. just remember that you goat ta thanks alex, chara and frisk too."_

Asriel narrowed his eyes at Sans while Alex burst into laughter, "Good one Sans!"

Sans chuckled, _"man kid, i'm ruining your sense of humor."_ Gaster rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement.

They all stood back up and Gaster decided to speak now, **_"ALRIGHT, I THINK IT'S TIME YOU ALL HAVE A MOMENT ALONE WITH THE KING AND QUEEN."_**

They all agreed. Alex took Sans' hand while Gaster took Frisk's and Asriel's hands, before they all took a shortcut back to the castle.

* * *

When Alex and Sans arrived, they walked into the living room and greeted everyone. Asgore, Toriel, and Papyrus were all talking in there until Sans walked in and greeted them.

 _"heya, we're back."_

"Welcome back Sans." Toriel said.

"Howdy Sans." Asgore replied, smiling weakly.

"BROTHER, YOU'VE RETURNED AT LAST. WE WERE WORRIED WHEN WE HEARD ANOTHER LOUD NOISE!"

 _"nah, we're all good. actually though, bro… i gotta talk with ya outside."_

"OH, ALRIGHT." Papyrus stood up and turned towards the king and queen, "SEE YOU SEEN ASGORE AND LADY ASGORE!" He then walked out, following Sans and leaving Alex alone with Toriel and Asgore. Toriel wasn't dumb, though. She knew something was up.

"My child, what's going on? Did you… did you want to talk with us alone?"

"Alex, we are here for you." Toriel tried to glare daggers towards Asgore, but he either didn't notice or didn't care.

Alex responded, "Actually, two… err, three more people are coming to see you guys too!"

"Oh, who is it, my child?"

Right on cue, Gaster stepped into view from the hallway with Frisk and Asriel holding his hands. He let go, smiled to the king and queen, and made his exit.

The King and Queen remained silent, with mouths ajar and eyes wide as saucers. They were unable to properly react, so Asriel took it upon himself to do so. He ran at full speed and ran into Toriel's arms as tears flooded down his face. Both Asgore and Toriel, now, began to cry as they both enveloped him in a hug. Frisk walked over beside Alex as they both took a seat.

"M-my child? Asriel, i-is that you?"

"My son… is this truly you?!"

He nodded and cried into Toriel's chest. "Ye-yeah. M-mom… d-dad… I l-l-love you guys!" He continued to cry as he hugged them both.

Toriel and Asgore took a step back to get a better look at their son. Asgore spoke first, "H-how is this possible?"

"Dr. Gaster helped give me back a soul."

Asgore made a mental note to himself to thank Gaster. Toriel looked over to Frisk and Alex and beckoned them over. They both joined into the group hug. The biggest smile Toriel has had in centuries was not adorned on her face.

"T-this is the happiest day of my life. My wife and children returned, the barrier broke, I regained an old friend." Toriel looked to him and almost scowled.

"Asgore, Alex and Frisk a-" Before she could continue with her thought, Frisk grabbed her face and forced her took look into her eyes, "M-my child, what are you doing?"

Suddenly, Frisk's eyes flashed and turned bright red as more tears began to flow freely. Chara spoke now, through Frisk, **"M-mom…"**

Toriel froze in place and stared into Chara's eyes. Her eyes watered and let loose raging rivers of tears as she picked up Chara and hugged her close as she cried. "M-my little Chara?" She hugged Chara tightly and twirled around in ecstatic joy, unable to contain herself.

Asgore copied her with Asriel and Alex, laughing in joy and spinning them around while hugging them closely. After a few moments, they finally put down the children, but many of them continued to cry.

Once they all calmed down, Toriel went to the kitchen and finished a cinnamon and butterscotch pie for the group, which they all ate together at the table. They talked, catching up on everything that has happened. As they ate, they continued to talk, with Toriel speaking first.

"So, Chara and Frisk, you two share a body and soul?"

Frisk nodded, with one eye brown and the other red, "Yes, Chara is sharing my body for now, but Gaster plans on working to restore them to a body, like how he gave Asriel a soul again."

Asgore finished his slice of pie and smiled, "It's like we're a family again." Toriel glared at him again, prompting Chara to speak up.

 **"Stop it!"** Both Toriel and Asgore were caught off guard by Chara's angry outburst, **"Both of you made mistakes."**

"Chara, listen…" Toriel tried, but Chara continued.

 **"No. I know that your mad at dad for making the order to collect human souls, but he regrets his decision. He only did it to maintain hope for the monsters and because of our deaths."**

"Chara, calm down, please." Asgore now tried to soothe his daughter, which didn't work.

"I know, but he still chose to do so." Toriel replied.

 **"He obviously regrets every moment of it. And mom, you left him while he grieved. You were the Queen, you could have prevented the decision. You could've… you could've done something to help…"**

"Chara…" Toriel had regret in her eyes.

 **"Mom, dad, I know your relationship may never be the same again… but you can't just go on and hate each other! Please…"**

Toriel and Asgore remained quiet for a moment before Toriel sighed and hung her head in defeat. She chuckled softly, "Hehe, Chara, you always were pretty sharp for your age…" She looked up and over to Asgore, "… But she's right. G-Asgore, I did abandon you. I'm sorry."

Asgore smiled weakly, "I know, Tori. I'm sorry too. We both made some mistake along the way. Can we at least try to be a family together with these children?"

She smiled weakly and nodded, "I… I think we can. Maybe we'll never be lovers again, maybe we will, but we can at least be a family together…"

Asgore smiled and relief filled his eyes for the first time in a long time. Everyone finished their food and they all continued to converse until they heard a knock on the door. Toriel stood up and answered it, allowing Undyne, Alphys, Gaster, Sans, and Papyrus all in.

"Hey punks, we're back now!"

"Y-yeah. W-we finished…"

Asgore tilted his head, "Finished with what, exactly?"

Alphys looked nervous, but both Gaster and Undyne put a hand on her shoulder. She took in a deep breath and nodded, "Y-your majesty, I… I made s-some mistakes and…"

Alphys spent the next ten minutes explaining her experiments with Determination and other soul traits, which caused the formation of the Amalgamates. She explained her regret and how she sent them all home. Gaster cut in every once in a while to explain he was at fault too.

"A-and t-that's why I… I want to resign a-as Royal Scientist."

Asgore's eyes widened for a moment before they returned to their normal size, "Alphys, I wan you to know I have no ill-will toward you. However, if this is what you wish, I will accept your resignation."

Alphys nodded with relief and smiled, "T-thank you s-sir."

"SO, ARE WE GOING TO GO CHECK OUT THE SURFACE, OR WHAT?"

Sans chuckled at Papyurs' eagerness, as did Asgore and Toriel. Asgore responded, "Well, I think it is time we check it out. We should see what we're dealing with before we make the announcement that everyone can now leave.

Toriel nodded in agreement as the entire group walked toward the barrier through the halls.

* * *

Upon reaching the spot where the barrier was, they could see a few rays of sunlight peaking though the opening. The all walked through the exit and found themselves high up on a mountainside near the edge of a small cliff. From where they stood, they could see so much.

In the far distance was modern human city. The sun was lowering behind the waves of some sort of body of water, perhaps an ocean or lake. Below them stretched a few miles of trees and forest. The scenery was stunning, and so was they sky, the blue giving way to other beautiful colors like red and orange.

All of the monsters were captivated, who have either never seen the sun, or haven't seen it in centuries. The humans stood beside them, admiring the beauty of the sunset.

"HEY, WHAT'S THAT BIG BALL OF FLAMES IN THE SKY THAT'S HIDING BEHIND THE WATER DOWN THERE?"

 ** _"THAT, PAPYRUS, IS CALLED THE 'SUN'. YOU KNOW THE STARS THAT ALL MONSTERS HAVE CRAVED TO SEE? THE SUN IS THE CLOSEST STAR TO US."_**

"WOWIE. THAT'S NEAT!" Papyrus grinned in happiness. Gaster smiled and put one arm around Papyrus and the other around Sans.

 ** _"YOU KNOW, I'VE DREAMED FOR CENTURIES FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY. TO WATCH A SUNSET WITH MY CHILDREN."_** Gaster looked at them both and chuckled before continuing. **_"HAHA, WELL, YOU CERTAINLY AREN'T CHILDREN ANYMORE."_**

Asriel's eyes were sparkling with joy and happiness too, as he held both Asgore's and Toriel's paws. Alphys and Undyne were leaning against each other and had an arm wrapped around each other. Alex stood there, enjoying the warmth of the sun before they felt pressure on their shoulder.

Alex looked over and saw Frisk leaning on them with one of her arms around him and resting on his shoulder. Alex did his best to his his blush. Frisk looked up to him with red eyes and winked, smiling mischievously. The eyes suddenly flashed back to brown as a blush grew on her face, causing Alex's to emerge. Before anything else happened, Undyne yelled and snapped them back to reality.

"Hey, you two, you guys get to live with all of this every day?"

Frisk straightened herself, smiled, and nodded, "Yeah, and now you guys will too.

As they stood there a bit longer, Alex and Frisk looked down the mountain and made out some red and blue flashing lights peering from behind the trees. They knew who they belonged to. Before they said anything, the lights vanished and a group of men wearing all black stepped out of a nearby tree line. Frisk reached over and tugged Gaster's lab coat to get his attention.

Gaster looked over and saw the group of ten-plus humans in black suits approaching. **_"YOUR HIGHNESSES, WE HAVE SOME COMPANY."_**

They all turned and watched them approach. There was a dozen of them, or, at least, a dozen visible men. All but two of them stopped halfway between the monsters and trees. The remaining two men approached, but did not have weapons drawn. It almost appeared like they were not surprised by the monster's appearance.

The two men stopped a few feet away from the monsters. They remained still and quiet for a moment before the one on the left reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He pressed a button and spoke a few words before immediately ending the call and returning the phone to his pocket. "Contact Confirmed. Barrier is a Negative."

The one on the left spoke now, "Good Evening. I am James. Agent James Smith, and this is my partner Agent Jonathan Miller."

Agent Smith held out his right hand towards the monsters. Asgore took a step forward and shook his hand, "Asgore Dreemurr, Monster King."

Agent Smith nodded and smiled, bowing with respect at the hip, "Greetings, your majesty."

Toriel took a step forward and narrowed her eyes at the agents, "So, what's going on here?"

Agent Miller took a step forward, now standing beside Smith, "We were monitoring the barrier when our sensors picked up its destruction. We were sent to investigate."

Everyone was confused in one way or another, which the agents noticed. James spoke again, "Monsters have been wiped from most of human history, but our organization of has not only known about the Monsters, but it was originally founded as a group against the formation of the barrier and banishing the monsters."

Jonathan added, "Ironically, we're probably one of the few groups that even remembers monsters."

The agents stood there for a moment, not saying another word. James' phone rang in his pocket, prompting him to reach in and answer it, "Agent Smith speaking."

After the person on the other end spoke for a few moments, he responded, "Yes ma'am."

He hung up the phone and looked to the monsters and humans, "Our boss is inbound and will be hear shortly to speak with you all…" He then turned to face Asgore, "… and hopefully begin preliminary negotiations." Guess they'd have to wait here for a little bit.

* * *

After about a dozen minutes or so, only Asgore, Alex, Frisk, and Gaster were on the Surface with the agents. The sun had now set and darkness had spread across the landscape, but the other agents set up a table, some chairs, and a fairly good amount of lights to illuminate the area.

They all sat down at the table, waiting for their boss to appear while everyone else went back Underground to prepare the monsters for an announcement. The agents gave them some space as the two human children and two boss monsters sat and talked to each other.

Frisk, err Chara, spoke, **"I don't trust these guys…"**

Asgore nodded slowly and spoke softly, "I'll admit, this is a bit peculiar, but they seem nice enough."

Frisk took control again, "Chara, you don't trust anyone."

 **"That's not true. I trust you, Alex and all of the monsters."**

Gaster put a hand on Chara/Frisk's shoulder and spoke quietly, **_"I'D SUGGEST FOR THE TIME BEING, THAT WE HIDE YOUR PRESENCE CHARA. WE MAY NOT WANT TO ALARM THEM."_**

Frisk nodded and her eyes turned completely brown again. Alex leaned a little bit against Frisk, making both of them smile and blush. Then, a lady wearing a professional navy-blue dress walked up the hill and took a seat at the other end of the table. She smiled warmly and extended a hand toward Asgore, who accepted it immediately and shook her hand.

"It is nice to finally meet you, King Asgore Dreemurr."

Asgore smiled and shook his head, "Please, you may call me Asgore."

She nodded, "Alright Asgore, my name is Rebecca Jones, leader of the MHRA, or Monster/Human Relation Administration. If you don't mind me asking, who are these three sitting beside you?" She gestured to Gaster, Alex, and Frisk.

Gaster extended his hand to Rebecca, who accepted it and shook hands, **_"I'M DR. W D GASTER, ROYAL SCIENTIST AND ADVISOR."_**

Alex extended his hand and shook her hand as well, "My name's Alex." Frisk did the same, "And I'm Frisk!" They both smiled widely.

Asgore put his arm around both of them, "These children helped break the barrier and are the adopted children of my… friend Toriel."

Rebecca nodded and continued, "It is nice to meet all of you. I am here to discuss a few matters. My men told you that humanity, for the most part, does not remember you, correct?"

Asgore nodded, "Indeed. But it is not too surprising."

Ms. Jones continued, "With your… 're-Surface', we are planning on revealing your presence to the world later this week. I want you to keep in mind, not everyone will be open-minded about all of this, but we will be there, trying to smooth things over as best as we can."

Asgore and Gaster smiled at the reassurance. She spoke again, "Now, with our connections to the US government, we are prepared to make arrangements with you if you agree to a few requirements."

 ** _"SUCH AS?"_**

"We are permitted to give you and your Kingdom all of the land within a two-mile radius of the mountain for you to colonize. Then, after everything is taken care of after your reveal, we could allow more land."

"And, what do we have to do, in return?" Asgore asked, paying close attention.

She sighed and smiled, "Alright, first of all, everyone stays Underground until morning so we may make sure no one is currently in the surrounding area. Secondly, no monsters are allowed to venture beyond the two-mile radius of the mountain until announcement is made. Thirdly, we'd like some human researchers to accompany you on the mountain to interview many of you. Finally, we know about your magic, so no using ANY magic that could be seen from the outside of the radius. The last thing we need are leaks and panic." She looked at them with a seriousness in her eyes.

Gaster held up his right hand, **_"Miss Jones, would you mind if we talk for a moment?"_**

She stood up, smiled, and nodded, "Of course." She sets a pager down on the table. "Press the large button on it when you are done, and I'll be notified. Take all of the time you need." She then proceeded to walk away towards the other agents.

Asgore looked to Gaster, "Well, I think this sounds reasonable. Surely, that is not too much to ask."

Alex looked up to Gaster, "What about timelines? Did you see any like this?"

Gaster nodded and extended his hand slightly, enveloping the pager in a purple light, and spoke softly, **_"FROM THE VOID, I WAS ABLE TO VIEW A FEW TIMELINES WHERE YOU ALL MADE IT TO THE SURFACE. THIS ONE IS UNIQUE, BUT THIS DEAL… IT SEEMS MORE REASONABLE THAN MANY OTHERS THAT WERE MADE."_**

Frisk was silent, likely taking to Chara in her head. It looked like Chara was likely arguing against trusting the humans.

Asgore started, "Then I think we should make the deal." HE nodded to Gaster as he retracted the magic from the pager. Alex jumped up and pressed the large button on it. After a few moments, Rebecca Jones returned.

"So, have you reached a decision?"

Asgore looked to the humans and Gaster behind him, who all nodded confidently. He then turned back around and extended his hand toward her. She grabbed it and they shook, "I believe so. We agree to the terms, but…" Gaster seemed to almost sweat, "…I'd like to ask something else of you."

She tilted her head and smiled, "I'm sure we can work something out. What did you have in mind?"

Asgore looked back and winked at Alex and Frisk. He smiled, "How quickly can we get official adoption papers together?"

Rebecca folded her arms over her chest and smiled, "I think we can get those together for you."

Gaster let out a sigh. Perhaps this was going to work out just fine after all. As he sat there, thinking to himself, he couldn't help but remember something important. The Entity. They were still out there destroying timelines… and this one's final hour was only drawing closer. He knew, once he had access to a full lab, he would have to start working on that problem.

But for now, he needed to just smile and enjoy the surface. After all, this timeline was his own, and if he solved their problem, this would be around for a very long time. Off nearby, Gaster felt something strange in the trees something, or someone, was watching them. He turned quickly to try and get a look but failed. Now, this peaked his interest. Maybe this 'thing' knew something that could help him out.

All of this had to wait though, because it was time to start their lives on the surface.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Sorry about the Delay, and don't worry, I got an epilogue coming. Sorry if the chapter feels rushed, I've been having a hell of a time with my life. Anyway, I hope it was good enough._**

 ** _As a side note, I'm not sure what to do with Toriel/Sans/Asgore. I mean, I don't really know which relationship I'd rather have. Toriel and Asgore are fixing their issues, but I don't know if they'll get back or if Sans will swoop in. Any suggestions? It could really go either way._**

 ** _Anyway, the epilogue will be here soon and then a sequel with more story with a side of fluff and fun._**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	24. Epilogue: Opening the Gateway

Gaster stood tall and proud in his Lab. The walls were a plain pale blue color and his floor was covered in pristine white tiles, shiny enough to see one's own reflection. He was still wearing his trademarked white lab coat over his black turtleneck and pants.

It's been several weeks since they all arrived on the surface and he already had plenty of things to work on. Walking over to his desk, he picked up his new, favorite mug. Filled to the brim with a pure black liquid. The mug was completely black except for a few large, white words on the side that read: _#1 Dad-ster_

It was a Father's Day gift from Sans and Papyrus, and he really loved it. It looked to have been custom made, but who knew. HE brought it to his lips and sipped on the delightful taste of his black coffee, allowing the aroma of the coffee beans fill his workspace. That was certainly one thing on the surface he loves. The food, although more physical and with less immediate effects, it was still pretty great. It had been several hundred years since his last fresh cup of coffee.

After the sip, he held the mug a bit lower and walked over to his monitor on his desk. The workspace was filled with papers which were, in turn, covered in theories and equations. He had gained quite a bit of government funds for his research after he showed off his achievements in the Underground, which would allow him to complete his side projects. His second most important goal was finding a new way to revive Chara.

However, his original goal from the Void remained his top priority: How to save their Timeline.

Unfortunately, he never got a good look at this 'entity' that was responsible for the deaths of countless timelines. If only he had his equipment with him while he was in the Void. It would have surely made things much simpler. And now, he had nowhere to go. Nowhere to start. Sure, they still had close to a year, maybe even more, before they would finally show up, but he definitely didn't want to wait that long.

Gaster wasn't stupid. He knew that the moment the 'entity' arrived here, there would be no way to stop them. His current calculations, although incomplete, projected that this entity's Level of Violence, or LV, was well into the thousands. Now even the combined might of every monster and human on the planet would be able to deal with someone like that.

Luckily, he was already working on a possible way to overcome this and make it possible to defeat them. Unfortunately, he still needed to know more about them. He looked over to his right towards the corner of his Lab. There stood a prototype machine that looked like a large silver octagon with a Soul-looking symbol on each joint.

His prototype Quantum Multiverse Accelerator, or QMA. Once completed, it would allow passage into other timelines… or, at least, theoretically. He still had quite a bit of work done. Suddenly, Gaster felt something vibrate in his pocket. He reached into it and pulled out an old pager that was synced to some of his equipment. He looked on it and saw the three words he was waiting for: **_"VOID ENTITY DETECTED"_**

He smiled to himself and walked calmly over towards the counter on his left. He dared not to look behind him as he walked over as if nothing happened. He was mentally crossing his fingers that this would work. He only had one shot, and he knew very little about what he was doing. He reached the desk and spoke a phrase aloud as he flipped a switch under the counter, **_"AT LAST WE MEET…"_**

The moment the switch was flicked the speakers above him throughout his lab began to blare a loud siren similar to a siren that would warn of an imminent airstrike. His Lab, he knew, was sturdy enough to prevent the sound from making it beyond his walls, but he only needed it to sound off in here. It also served a second, quieter purpose. It alerted Sans and Alphys. They would be here within minutes, wherever they were.

As they played loudly, he turned around slowly with a neutral expression. Before him, kneeling and covering their ears was a young child, probably nine. They covered their ears as best as they could as a look of fear was etched across their face. The young child was monochrome and their eyes were not present.

Instead of eyes, they had dark eye sockets. If it weren't for the lack of eyes and color, he would have almost assumed it was Frisk… but this wasn't Frisk… or, at least, HIS Frisk. This was the first time he's actually had solid confirmation of this being's existence. He hoped the cameras were still recording. Gaster looked upon them before he reached behind himself and flicked the switch again to turn off the noise, while also grabbing something else that was hidden under the table.

He turned his full attention to the child before him, who was slowly getting up now that the loud sirens had stopped. They looked up at Gaster and looked prepared to flee or vanish, but were frozen in place. Now, in Gaster's hands, he held a gun that was pointed towards the child. The child could not flee, now. Gaster took a step forward, still with the gun in hand. Gaster actually really hate this weaponry, but his research DID say that this was certainly a way to prevent this 'Frisk' from escaping.

Gaster kept his neutral expression, trying his best to not show any weakness. He NEEDED to know what this entity knew, regardless of any moral implications. This was his first, and likely ONLY, chance to get the information and data he needed. Gaster finally spoke again. **_"I DO NOT WISH TO DO ANY HARM, BUT… I NEED SOME INFORMATION…"_**

The being opened its eye sockets a bit wider in fear, seeing Gaster with the gun before them. They were trapped. **_"FIRST OF ALL, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"_**

They stood in fear and shock for a moment before speaking. "M-my name is F-Frisk. Frisk Marusina…"

Gaster looked upon them, nodding at the answer. That proved one thing, that this entity was definitely not his Frisk, but from an alternate timeline. But… what happened to them? His own magic senses and his equipment all showed that 'Frisk' was filled with Void Magic, but that doesn't explain much.

Gaster stopped for a moment and looked at their outstretched arm holding the gun. He visibly frowned. What was he doing? Threatening a child with a gun that, as far as he was aware, never hurt anyone or did anything wrong. Gaster's hand shook slightly. He sighed and looked 'Frisk' in the eyes.

 ** _"FRISK… I… IF I PUT THIS AWAY, DO YOU PROMISE TO STAY AND NOT FLEE?"_**

The monochrome Frisk slowly nodded, their face still covered in fear and panic. Gaster threw the unloaded gun to the side as it spun away and slid on the ground toward the other side of the lab. **_"F-FORGIVE ME… YOU SEE… I'VE BEEN DESPRET FOR ANSWERS… I- I JUST NEED…"_**

Frisk stood up and their expression calmed. They nodded slowly, as if knowing what Gaster was going to say, "I understand… Truth be told, I knew you might try something like this…" A small smile appeared on their face, "… But I'm glad to see you couldn't go through with all of it."

 ** _"YOU… YOU KNEW…"_**

A small frown replaced the smile on Frisk's face, "Yes. Honestly, I've been watching your timeline since the beginning. It was quite interesting, but I stayed out of it for as long as I could… that is…" Frisk motioned toward the prototype QMA, "…until now… You do realize this will change everything for your timeline, right?"

Gaster nodded, **_"SO, YOU'VE DECIDED TO SHOW YOURSELF NOW?"_**

"Yes. This 'Entity' you have been researching… it's a smaller threat in the multiverse when compared to others, but it is still important to stop, for your sake and others. No one else has even attempted to stop them, so I've decided to help… especially since it seems you may have a chance."

Gaster nodded sadly, **_"AGAIN, I APOLOGIZE…"_**

Frisk held out up their hands, "No, it's fine. Thanks though… So, where do you want to start?"

Gaster looked at them for a moment and sat down on his chair, inviting Frisk over to another beside him, **_"COULD YOU PLEASE START BY TELLING ME ABOUT YOURSELF?"_**

Core!Frisk nodded.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _First of all, shout out to CORE!Frisk on Tumblr. I felt this would be a good way to open PureTale up to the Multiverse. As for others like Ink!Sans and Error!Sans, I may only hint at them. They aren't the threats in my story._**

 ** _I'm sorry everybody, but that's the end of PureTale. I plan on working on a sequel story, however, the uploads will probably not be as often. I hope you enjoyed the journey with Alex, Frisk, and everyone else, because I know I enjoyed writing it. Everyone's reviews, favorites, follows, and PMs meant a lot to me and helped me stay Purely Determined to write. Now, here comes the next thing I wanted to say._**

 ** _The next story will be delayed thanks to current things going on with me, but I'll start eventually (Hopefully soon.). There will be some fluff and story in the sequel, and if you have a suggestion for some fluff that you'd like to see, feel free to let me know. I'll consider it._**

 ** _Again, thanks for spending your time reading my crap! See ya all later!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


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